Might As Well Have Kissed a Death Eater
by Cariel
Summary: *Complete* Who or what really /is/ evil? Harry falls for a Slytherin girl, Ron and Hermione shippiness! Tastefully evil Draco, another side of Ginny, a little of everything: R/Hr, D/G, H/OC, D/OC, D/HG, H/G
1. Incantations and Agitations

Category: Mystery, Drama, Angst, Romance  
Timeline: Harry, Ron, and Hermione's 6th year  
Rating: PG-14 for violence, sexual insinuations, and mild swearing   
Topic: The dichotomy of good vs. evil is explored and re-examined. Who or what really _is _evil? 

Harry could barely believe it was his sixth year at Hogwarts. Then again, he could. It had been hard. Not only were classes becoming more difficult, especially after passing O.W.L.'s, but also the fact that every year had him facing possible death by an unseen enemy. Facing possible death and not dying strengthened his faith in himself and his friends. It also leant a little to his ego. His fan club's members increased year after year—with only a minor setback during his second year when they had suspected him of being the heir of Slytherin—no doubt this year, there'd be a mob awaiting him once he entered the Great Hall.

He was correct. 

With Colin Creevey heading the band of Harry Potter fans, camera poised and ready, Harry put a hand above his eyes to block the snapping photos and used his other hand to lightly push the smaller kids out of the way so he could sit down next to his friends at the Gryffindor table. "Enough, enough, kids," Colin was telling the younger students, "Let him eat in peace. There'll be plenty of time for pictures and autographs later. The question and answer session 'Who _is Harry Potter' will be after the Sorting Ritual and supper. _

Harry shook his head dismissively and found Ron. "I can't believe them."

"At least they have a hobby." Ron shrugged. "Seen Hermione around?"

"No I thought she was with you," Harry admitted. 

The sorting ceremony finished up and the feast materialized in front of them. Harry was famished so he dug right in, but this year Ron wasn't scoffing down food like an animal this year. "You all right?" Harry asked him between bites.

"Yeah," he took a large bite, as if to prove it, "just fine."

Hermione was late, which was very unusual for her. "I can't believe I missed the train! McGonagall is going to be furious! And I left some things at home- I forgot to pack them. And then missing the sorting!" 

She went on and on for what seemed like hours, but finally turned her attention to Harry. "Did they announce the Prefects?? Oh I know they must have!" She looked over at the Ravenclaw table and noticed the Head Boy and Head Girl with their badges already on. "They already had the meeting-yesterday? Today? I missed it. Oh I knew I should have made for earlier arrangements. Damn it!"

Harry blinked and looked at Ron who wore a similar humorous expression. 

Hermione noticed Harry's eye contact with Ron and followed it. "What is so funny Ronald?" she sniffed.

He did not want to start the year off with her being less-than-pleased with him so he said, "Nothing," and went back to eating.

Harry told her, "It was yesterday, but don't worry: McGonagall hasn't chosen the Gryffindor Prefects yet, so you're safe."

Hermione nodded her thanks and started to eat as well. She really wanted to be a Prefect. 

"You know she was probably waiting for you to arrive," Harry thought aloud.

"Yeah 'Mione, you know you're a shoe-in for Head Girl," Ron added.

Not to be flippant, but only wanting her friends to know her truthful concerns she said, "At the same time, I'm debating whether or not I should accept it. I don't know whether or not the duties of a Prefect would cut into my study time. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to have the responsibilities, but at the same time I don't want to be bothered with tedious, mundane, or outright stupid questions when I could be using that time to study."

"That's true, but we've already taken the O.W.L.'s, what's more to study for?" Ron queried without thinking.

"Well let's see…" Hermione began, "We have the N.E.W.T.'s next year… and oh yes, _classes_!" She sounded almost exasperated. "Really, Ron, you'd think after these past five years you'd see the need to study!"

"Study? Oh you're not on about that again are you?" Ron shouted back at her.

It went on between the two of them for about a half hour, but Harry didn't mind. He was glad to be back to school, to be with his friends, and excited that Quidditch practice would be starting up again soon. He and Ron both hoped that Ron would make it this year. 

After they had finished eating, they made their way to the Gryffindor common room when Hermione asked, "Do you smell that Harry?"

"Smells like rotten eggs." 

"Or rotten meat…" suggested Ron.

All three of them chuckled as Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and a few other Slytherins pushed past them. 

Archive: This story is indeed my property (as in I created the situation, the dialogue etc.) It may be passed along and archived as long as my name goes right along with it. Please ask me first. My email is PKCariel@hotmail.com. Let me know where it's at so I can come visit. =) 

Disclaimer: All characters have been borrowed with love, but not permission. No copyright infringement is intended. 

Author's Note: Thanks so much for taking time to read this short story of mine. It's my very first Harry Potter fic and I'm proud of it. Please feel free—I'd like anyone too—give me comments, questions, about the story. I love feedback. (No naughty, evil, or just plain mean emails though-They will be taken care of by my fire-breathing dragon Ryuu take caution!)


	2. Umm Why me?

A/N: ::sniffs irately:: 'Why me?' Indeed!  
For some reason parts of my story have been deleted, so I had to go about rewriting and by the time I began rewriting I had already forgotten what I wrote previously, so if parts suck it's because of the re-write.

Contrary to what everyone expected, Ron didn't make the Quidditch team. Ron was thoroughly disappointed even when he accompanied Hermione to Gryffindor's first game of the year which was versus Ravenclaw. After the game, they went to congratulate Harry on catching the snitch in the earliest recorded time in Hogwart's history. 

As Ron and Hermione made their way to towards the Quidditch pitch, Draco Malfoy slammed into Ron forcefully saying to his cronies, "It's too bad Weasel wasn't out there today. Would have made a damn fool of himself in front of the whole school…"

"Ignore him. Ignore him," Hermione whispered to herself, hoping Ron wouldn't do anything rash. She continued walking away from the Slytherins with Ron at her side.

Malfoy wanted a reaction and they weren't giving him one. "You're starting to bore me Weasel! You and your filthy mudblood of a girlfriend!" 

That was it. That was all it took for Malfoy to get his reaction. Ron spun around and was in Draco's face in a split second.

"RON!!!!" Hermione yelled as he threw a punch at Malfoy before he could get out his wand. 

"Is that all you've got Weasel?" Malfoy demanded, whipping the blood from his lip. Without waiting for an answer, he moved…

Ron lashed out at the Slytherin. He whipped a right-hook and Malfoy ducked to come around and slug Ron in the stomach. Wincing, Ron kicked Malfoy in the thigh, barely missing a very painful spot. Ron was stronger than Malfoy, but the Slytherin was quicker and more experienced in fighting. 

"Had enough?!" Draco spat at Ron.

Ron took two hard punches. The second punch got him in the jaw and sent him flying backwards into Hermione. They both landed hard on the ground; blood everywhere and Malfoy laughing. Ron jumped up, enraged and toppled Malfoy to the ground. 

The other Slytherins didn't make a move to help Malfoy or stop the fight. They were being entertained.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape found the students rolling on the ground, still fighting. "Enough!" Snape picked Malfoy up and glared at him. 

"Are you two finished?" McGonagall wasn't asking. She looked Ron up and down. His robes were filthy. 

Ron and Hermione exchanged glances. They both knew he was in deep trouble. 

"Are you injured Hermione?" McGonagall asked her. 

"I don't think so." She looked at her elbow; it was red, but not bleeding. 

McGonagall shook her head and escorted Ron to Madame Pomfrey's with Snape and Malfoy close behind. 

Hermione went to find Harry. Harry was in the middle of a crowd of kids asking him questions about his game. When he saw Hermione, he ran over to her. "Thanks for saving me from them!" he said before noticing her expression. "What's wrong?"

"Malfoy."

"Again?"

"Of course. Who else?" she sardonically grinned. "He and Ron got into a fight. A _real_ fight this time. Professor McGonagall took him to Madame Pomfrey." She sighed.

"Is he OK?"

"Should be. They didn't have a chance to get their wands out…" She didn't want to take away from his moment so she added quickly, "Great job today."

"Thanks."

After getting fixed up, Ron was commanded to see Professor McGonagall in her office. He gulped before he entered. "Mr. Weasley…"

He couldn't help but swallow again as he approached her desk.

"Wasn't very smart to get into a physical brawl on school campus, was it?" 

"No, Professor."

She was going to expel him. She was going to expel him… She was going to expel him… 

His parents were going to kill him. 

Why did he have to let his anger take control of him?

Why did he let Malfoy get to him like that?

Couldn't he just have kept his cool and ignore him like Hermione had done?

"I suppose you have to learn your lesson."

"Yes, Professor." She was going to expel him…

"There are more dangerous things than Mr. Malfoy…"

"Yes, Professor." She was going to expel him…

"Well there's only one thing I can think of that can be done."

Ron swallowed nervously. She was going to expel him…

"You'll be the new Prefect for Gryffindor."

She wasn't going to expel him? He cleared his throat gasping, "Excuse me?"

"You have proven on more than one occasion your loyalty to your friends. Sticking up for fellow students is a brave, Gryffindor quality Mr. Weasley. Even though you may be quick to anger, you only have the best intentions in mind." 

"You're not going to expel me?" 

"Not today."

"Well why choose me?"

"Your brothers Percy and Bill were exceptional Prefects so it's only natural that you take their place…"

Ron wondered, "What about Harry?"

"You know very well that Harry's doesn't need the unnecessary risks involved with wandering around at night."

Ron chuckled to himself, remembering all the times they had done just that. Running around with Harry's invisibility cloak…

"Furthermore, he has all the younger students chasing after him, bothering him already. I don't think he'd do well with being bothered at all hours with questions."

"Well…er- Thank you…" He accepted the Prefect badge in a daze. He could hardly believe that he had actually been chosen- And by Professor McGonagall no less!

With a bounce in his step, he returned to the Gryffindor common room. He assumed, obviously, that Hermione would be named a Prefect as well, so the two of them would have to spend more time together and it was very common that the Head Boy and Head Girl would…umm…you know…so wouldn't be only natural that Prefects would too?

He was in high spirits as he entered through the portrait hole. 

The look on Hermione's face was not at all what he expected. She was shocked, to be sure, but she was not pleased.

"What the HELL IS THAT?" she demanded, pointing at his Prefect badge. "Did you steal it from McGonagall's office?!"

"I did no such thing! She selected me from Gryffindor Prefect. Aren't you happy?"

"Does is look like I am? How could you of all people get named a Prefect? I thought you'd get detention at least, if not EXPELLED for getting into a fight with Malfoy. Next I'll hear that Malfoy is the new Prefect for Slytherin!" She screamed at him, red-faced.

"Why are you so bloody pissed off at me?! Didn't you get your Prefect badge yet?"

She frowned. "No but Lavender did."

"So that's why you're pissed off. Don't take it out on me then. It's not as if it was my choice who got it."

"I don't care that Lavender got it."

"You even said you didn't want it to cut into your study time, so why are you so pissed off?!"

"You don't study at all! Why should you get it?! I've worked so hard! My grades are far better than yours!"


	3. Mudblood Kisses

Harry walked down the stairs into the common room in the middle of Ron and Hermione's row. He tried to ignore them. It wasn't as if they took any notice of anyone else. Harry went to sit down, opening the large book for Muggle Studies. 

Before he could get through a page, he couldn't help but overhear what Ron and Hermione's argument was about. 

"You made it very clear you were going to turn it down," Ron was shouting as Hermione interrupted him.

"I said I _might _turn it down."

"—so what is the big deal?" Ron finished.

"_Big_ Deal?!" she demanded. "Being Head Girl is everything I always wanted!"

"There's still next year," Ron intelligently remarked. 

"NEXT YEAR?!" She seemed appalled that he would even suggest that. "You can be in the Quidditch team next year! Does that make you feel better?"

 Whatever sympathy Harry felt for Hermione's situation flew out the window at that comment. "That was a low blow," Harry thought aloud, but they couldn't hear him.

"I'd give you mine if I could," Ron was saying.

"Sure you would," She crossed her arms smugly. 

"I didn't even think about being a Prefect! And I didn't think you'd get so mad over this!" He was sick of fighting with her. She always had to have the last word. "I _would_ give you mine if I could!" he strained to make her understand how he felt about her. He would do anything for her. 

"Would not!" She agitatedly threw her hand forth, poking him directly in the chest. Her face was as red as his by this time. "Don't lie to me!"

"I'm not!" The physical contact wasn't enough to make him loose his composure. 

One of the other Gryffindors sitting across from Harry remarked, "Perhaps we should just lock the two of 'em up in the broom closet?" The other people in the room laughed.

Harry sighed. He couldn't help but smile at the idea of the two of them in a broom closet. 

"They'd probably shout each other to death," Ginny smirked in Harry's direction. 

Ron got in Hermione's face yelling, "What's your problem?!" This obviously wasn't just about a Prefect badge. 

"YOU!" she yelled back. She was close enough to him that she could feel the temperature of his breath as he argued with her. 

"Maybe," Harry grinned at Ginny, "but at least Ron doesn't know any damaging curses—" 

Parvati added as she came through the portrait hole, "It's Hermione you've got to look out for, she's a real witch." She laughed with Harry, Ginny, and the other interested Gryffindors.

Draco Malfoy followed on Parvati's heels and overheard what she said about Hermione.

"What are _you_ doing here?!" Ron demanded at the same time as Hermione demanded, "What do _you_ want?!"

"Real witch? That mudblood bitch?" Draco raised an eyebrow in her direction.

Harry sprung from his seat demanding, "How did you get in here?!

Ginny laughed, "Why are you rhyming, Malfoy?"

"Got a Rhymeus curse on you there, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, looking him directly in the eyes. Neville burst out laughing and soon the entire common room was laughing at the Slytherin.

With furrowed brow Draco spat out the instructions he was to give Lavender and Ron. "All Prefects are charged to convene in the Great Hall in fifteen minutes. Since you were obviously weren't at the first meeting, you need to be caught up on all the rules and regulations of Hogwarts as well as your duties." He saw the defeat in Hermione's eyes, knowing she craved the Prefect badge he had on his chest. He smiled malevolently.

Ron didn't like the way he was looking at her at all. It was almost lustful and that, to Ron, was uncalled for. He didn't want anyone to look at Hermione like that. "We'll be there."

Draco sneered, "Good," then tore his eyes away from the pair, turning on his heels and excited the Gryffindor common room. He felt something to the effect of joy at the fact he'd been named Prefect and Hermione hadn't been. At the same time he felt a dash of another emotion that was rather alien to him. He couldn't put a name to it… remorse? compassion?

                No. Slytherins, especially those of Malfoy descent were not ones to feel such an emotion. No, he hated her. Granger- just the word was enough to inflame his hatred. He wanted to hurt her. He wanted to see her in pain. He wanted to watch her suffer…but how to go about it? 

She was a powerful witch, far excelling any other students in their year, probably even the seventh year students. Bugger her! The only way to get to her was when she was unaware and unprepared for attack.

                If she was asleep, she wouldn't be able to counter-curse him… The possibilities were endless. He decided to concoct a sleeping draught. He'd put it in a location that would be easy to access… in the study room. She'd probably want refreshment while immersing herself in studies. But how to get her to drink it… It's not as if he could walk up to her with a cup of tea and get her to drink it without her being suspicious; she wasn't that daft. 

He needed someone that could do it for him…someone that naturally would be concerned about her. Ginny Weasley? 

But he needed someone that wouldn't stick around and study… Ron Weasley! He wouldn't stay a moment longer than necessary. Draco sniffed at the thought of Ron. Ron wouldn't be anywhere with Granger unless they could row…

                Since Ron was nearly always in a fight with Granger, he'd want to get on her good side again and tea was a perfect peace offering…

That Friday evening, Ron went to apologize to Hermione and found her pouring over star charts. He stood at the doorway, observing her from afar and not ready to speak with her. No one else was in the study room, seeing as how it was a Friday night. She may have been cracked to be studying on a Friday night, but he was more cracked to just walk over to her when she was busy. 

Knowing she wouldn't give him the time of day, he retreated to the hallway where he saw Crabbe and Goyle walking past with drinks in their hands walking back from the great hall. "Perfect!" Ron thought. He'd just get her something to drink… That was a good idea right? Well, it couldn't hurt. 

                Ron found the hot-water dispenser and tea packages Draco had carefully planted. Luckily no one else took the kind of tea that was Hermione's favourite. Ron quickly emptied the contents into the cup and added hot water. Draco gleefully monitored from afar, following Ron back to the study room.

                Ron sat across from Hermione barely able to make out her head from over the stacks of books on the table. "I er—" he started, clearing his throat. "Here. I brought you some tea. Thought you'd want a drink."

                Finally, she looked up from the star charts. Her eyes softened. "Thanks." She took the cup. Draco gleamed. Ron gave her a weak smile. She sipped at the tea, but it was still too hot to drink.

                After a few minutes, the tea was gone and her eyelids drooped. Ron told her, "You look really tired Hermione, maybe want to take a break?"

                But she was out cold before he could finish his sentence. He wasn't surprised that she had fallen asleep. She had fallen asleep in the study room, the library, or the common room on more than one occasion so he left her there, not wanting her to yell at him for disturbing her.

                Draco sauntered over to where she slept, arms sprawled over her notes. He lifted an arm carelessly and let it drop with a thump on the desk. He flipped her over so her unconscious face was towards him. She was perfectly defenceless…and not soul around… But before he set about committing her bodily harm, he brushed the no longer bushy, but carefully straightened hair away from her brow. Perhaps thoughts of the pure intentions and concerns of her welfare expressed by Weasley leant to his short hesitation. He bent over her and kissed her on the brow. 

                The momentary hesitation didn't exorcise the wicked intentions he designed for her. 

Hermione moaned at his touch.

                Before Draco could fulfil his evil intent, a group of seventh-year Slytherins passed by and entered, almost in shock at the sight of what Draco wanted to do. 

"I don't think your father would be too pleased to find out you were going to stuff a mudblood," the largest Slytherin remarked coldly before Draco could get very far. 

Draco smacked the side of her face. "This slag? No." He smacked her on the face again and the Slytherins laughed at her expense. But Hermione had woken up and saw Draco's fingers within in reach of her mouth. She bit him before he could smack her again and he screamed. 

Dazed, she couldn't comprehend the depravity of the situation she was in, but she knew she did NOT want to be caught straddled by Malfoy. She pushed him off her and spat to get the taste of his hand out of her mouth.

Drowsy, but conscious, she slurred, "Tastes like shit, Malfoy!" 

He whipped around and barricaded her against the wall, placing his hands on the wall behind her on either side of her head. Caging her, he leaned in so close his nose nearly touched hers whispering, "Best shit you'll ever have, Granger." 

She spat in his face and as he wiped the spit from his face, she ran from the room, disregarding the laughter of the Slytherins and forgetting about her books.


	4. Sleep Invader

Hermione fled from Malfoy, and didn't slow down until she was in her own room. She threw herself onto her bed, wanting to cry, wanting comfort, but she knew that crying would let him win. She summoned all her strength and refused to cry. She didn't want Malfoy to have that kind of power over her. Exhaling slowly, she closed her eyes, trying to get his face out of her sight. His malevolent grin would not escape her thoughts. She still felt him touching her; his slimy hands moving around places on her body she never expected anyone to touch. She felt his lips on hers and tasted the saltiness of his hands in her mouth. She shook her head violently trying to get the thoughts he was sending her out of her head. 

                How would she ever sleep after something like this? 

At first, she was tormented by the memory of what he had started to do to her. Harry and Ron noticed she was more agitated and quick to anger than usual. She didn't look well and they thought perhaps it was a 'girl' thing. Then the nightmares worsened. It was almost as if he were sending her his dirty thoughts. He was in her mind, in her nightmares, taunting her with images she wished she'd never seen. 

The progressive nightmares cost her hours of sleep and she looked more haggard as weeks wore on. Harry supposed she had a curse on her while Ron figured she was still angry with him about the Prefect issue. Every time either Harry or Ron attempted to ask her about it, she'd dismissed them. Hermione tried to avoid them partially because they were male and wouldn't understand the cruel invasion that rape is. It didn't matter whether or not he had actually finished the task he set out to do, it was the intent that frightened her and she didn't want to be around any male, not even Hagrid. 

Hermione wondered if she should talk about it. What would she do if she were Head Girl? Maybe she truly wasn't cut out for it anyway. She finally decided to tell Lavender about her confrontation with Malfoy in the study room and what he had almost done to her. 

Naturally Lavender told Parvati and of course by the next day the whole school knew. 

Walking to her first hour class, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Hermione heard people talking about her and whispering when she passed them. She sat down next to Harry and Ron, evading their concerned gaze. "Bugger," she thought, "shouldn't have said anything to Lavender… I _knew_ she would tell Parvati! How could I be so thick?"

Some Slytherin girls sitting behind Ron were murmuring, "—wouldn't have gotten very far if she'd had her wits about her. Granger's more powerful than him."

"Better make sure Malfoy doesn't hear you say that," the other girl replied, giggling.

Hermione smiled at that remark and Ron saw this. He turned to Harry saying, "Funny how when it comes from your enemy it means a whole lot, but coming for friends it's nothing." 

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"I mean about her-" He gestured with head towards Hermione. "We tell her all the time she's a great witch, but she doesn't take our comments as worth anything. Yet, when a Slytherin says it, it actually means something to her! Didn't you see her smile?" 

Harry shook his head. He shifted his glasses as the class fell silent when Professor Snape entered.


	5. The Queen of Slytherin House

"Why didn't you come to us?" Harry asked her after Defence Against the Dark Arts. 

Hermione clutched her books close to her chest, walking faster than the two boys, not answering. 

"Yeah, why didn't you feel that you could tell us?" Ron caught up to her, "I thought we were best friends and you told Lavender instead of us? I don't get it." 

"Because—because…" Hermione stuttered, which was unusual for her. "Because you're boys!" she exclaimed. "You don't understand!" 

"But we could have-_done_ something—" Ron insisted.  

"Like what? Defend me? It's better this way. Provoking him only causes more misery. He gets joy from other people's pain." 

"When did you get so sagacious?" Ron was gobsmacked. 

"I read, remember?" Hermione faked a confident smile and continued walking past them towards her next class.

"She's right, you know," Harry told Ron.

Ron shrugged. He wasn't fully convinced Hermione's self-assured 'I can handle it by myself' attitude was genuine. 

On his way back to the Gryffindor common room when classes had finished for the day, Harry noticed a young girl sitting on the ground near the girls' toilet with her knees pulled to her chest, crying. It wasn't until he got close enough that he saw she wore Slytherin robes, but it didn't faze him. He hadn't seen her around before so he _assumed_ she was a first-year. He approached her cautiously. "What's wrong?" 

"They were making fun of me." She gestured half-heartedly down the hallway near a study lounge where a group of Slytherin boys and girls a few years older than her stood talking.  

He seated himself next to her. "Why? Why were they laughing at you?" 

"Because I'm- I'm muggle-born…" she admitted. 

"And you're in Slytherin? I thought they only accepted-oh… I see." She started to cry again. "I'm sorry… Don't cry…"

"I don't know why they put me in Slytherin…" she blubbered, "I didn't choose to, the sorting hat just put me in there."

Now Harry remembered her! She was Laura Marwood… Even when he watched her get sorted, he felt a twinge of regret that she hadn't been placed in Gryffindor. She was nice-looking to say the least. Dark black eyes, black hair… Maybe she reminded him of Cho? He pushed the thought to the back of his mind and focused on her as she continued.

"Did you ever think you were put in the wrong house?" she asked, wiping her tears.

"Er-yeah of course…but I asked Dumbledore about it and he said that the hat was right," he told her. 

Harry thought about it for a moment… She was muggle-born. Why _had_ she been put in Slytherin? They were so obsessive about purity, it just didn't back sense. "Oh, I'm Harry by the way, Harry Potter."

"I know," she smiled shyly, but looked at her shoes, blushing. "I've heard so much about you. I-er-" She stopped herself out of embarrassment. 

"Of course," he said simply. Why wouldn't every single student at Hogwarts know who he was? "Just checking," he joked. She smiled even broader.

"I'm Laura Marwood, daughter of Lucretia Firebrand and Sir Roger Marwood," she introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you," he said, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. She couldn't believe that on the worst of all her days so far at Hogwarts, the person to find her would be _the_ Harry Potter. 

Harry decided he'd question Professor McGonagall about Laura's situation later. "Would you fancy getting a bite to eat now?"

She nodded and he pulled her up from the ground. He then noticed her long, slim legs and her nicely shaped figure and knew she couldn't be less than fourteen or fifteen years old. He gestured for her to take his arm, which she did. Her spirits uplifted, accompanied Harry to supper. 


	6. Personal Champion

That night, Ron was making his rounds as a Prefect and decided on his way back, confident with his new authority, to sneak into the girls' dormitory. It was near half-past midnight when he reached the door to Hermione's room. He listened at the door, but couldn't hear a sound through the thick wood. Turning to leave, another door down the hallway a bit creaked open and he rotated to see the figure of Hermione exiting. He must have been standing at the wrong door!

He cleared his throat. "What are you doing?" he questioned professionally. 

"I could ask you the same thing. Even Prefects aren't allowed in opposite-sex living quarters at night!" Hermione rebuked. 

"I was checking the-er-the-the- I thought I heard a noise…" he lied, stuttering quickly. 

"And here I thought you had come to check on me," she sarcastically replied. She half-sighed, crossing her arms over her nightdress. It was chilly and her nightdress wasn't exactly opaque. 

"Well yeah, I mean um- Are you OK?" 

"Why wouldn't I be?" 

"Then why are you still awake?" 

Neglecting her not quite impenetrable nightdress, she shrugged with both arms up. "Heard a noise" she lied. 

With all his will-power, he avoided looking below her face and cleared his throat again. "Well, do you want to have a look around a bit with me then?" 

"Hardly!" she yawned, "it's late." She looked up into his concerned eyes, knowing he too hadn't heard a sound.

"I suppose it is." He looked into her eyes as well, wishing to know what went on inside there, but sensed she didn't want to talk about it.

Both of them stood unwavering; not making a step to leave. 

He saw the dark circles under her eyes and was sincerely worried about her. "Still haven't finished my essay," he admitted, trying to get her to stay. 

"I thought as much… I've had mine done since the day after it was assigned." She really didn't want to go back into her room. She didn't want to lie down on her bed, close her eyes, and receive Malfoy's twisted suggestive thoughts. 

"Would you mind er- looking over what I have so far?" 

She was going to turn him down. Why would she want to look over his worthless essay? Especially after making that comment about him and Harry just being 'boys' and not being able to 'understand' what Malfoy had done to her.

Hermione wasn't about to let the chance of making up with Ron slip away. After all, they had been through so much together. She realized at that point just how much Ron still cared about her well-being and that perhaps she _should _have told him instead of Lavender. "Sure," she answered. 

He was surprised she'd agreed, but pleased. He was blushing, but she wasn't able to see since it was so dark in the hallway. He followed her silently downstairs through the common room to his own room where he'd left his unwritten essay on his desk.

When Hermione saw that he hadn't even started yet, she smirked. It'd take them the rest of the night to finish, but she didn't mind.

Hours past and around four in the morning, he was nearly done with his paper. As he checked over the last few lines he said, "I really owe you for staying up to help me with my paper…" 

When she didn't respond, he kept speaking without looking up out of embarrassment. "I um," he cleared his throat, "wanted to tell you something for awhile now," he started, still not making eye contact with her. "You know I care for you as friend, a lot, but um, I-er- I have these other feelings that are more than just friends… And I wanted you to know that… I think-" He corrected himself, "No, I _know_ that I- I want you to be my girlfriend…" 

Finally he looked at her, to see her reaction. 

She had fallen asleep. 

Sighing, because he had poured his heart out to a sleeping girl who obviously didn't hear a word of it, he carried her to his bed and tucked her in. She mayn't be officially his, but he already was hers even though she mayn't know it yet.

When Hermione woke up, she was quite disoriented. What in the world was she doing in Ron's bed? And since when had she actually been able to sleep so well? She stretched, yawning, and looked around for Ron. She wondered where he'd slept…in the same bed as her? It took a moment for it to sink in that she had actually _slept_ in Ron's bed-where _he_ slept every night. She didn't understand why it bothered her so much. Maybe sleeping in his bed didn't bother her so much as intensify her curiosity as to how she ended up in his bed. 

Ron unlocked his door and entered his room, finding Hermione still in his bed. He had gone to his classes already. 

"Ahh! I'm late for class!" She shot out of bed and scrambled around for proper clothes, but since it was his room, she hadn't any. 

Ron told her matter-of-factly, "Classes are over for the day Hermione—" She was shocked beyond words. "Don't look at me like that! Don't worry, I made excuses for you. I even brought you your homework."

"You went to my classes for me?" He was so sweet she could kiss him.

He handed over a handbag stuffed with books and papers. "I hope I brought the right things." She looked in the bag and saw he even brought a change of clothes from her room. He must have asked Lavender to get a few of her things.

"I told Madame Pomfrey about your difficulties sleeping lately and when Lavender backed me up, she conceded writing an exempt sheet to excuse you from classes. I just showed it to the professors for you so I could get your homework for you."

"What time is it?"

"After seven," he said.

"I can't believe I slept the whole day! I missed all of my classes!" She was flustered, but obviously well rested. "And supper!"

"I've that covered too." He showed her the food he filched from the kitchen before returning to his room, figuring she'd be hungry. 

Her eyes widened at the sight of food only then realizing how hungry she was. "Why did you let me sleep this long?" she asked, graciously taking the food from him. "And why are you being so nice to me?" she wondered curiously.  

He sat next to her by the desk as she ate and just shrugged. "I thought you needed to sleep…"

"I did," she admitted. "Thanks." She smiled at him and that was all the thanks he needed.****


	7. Brewing Trouble

From the moment Harry found Laura crying in the hallway, he was barely seen apart from her. He spent an inordinate amount of time with her, neglecting his friends only a little more than he neglected his studies. Ginny became concerned when he failed to meet her and cancelled on more than one occasion when he had promised he'd help her with muggle studies. It wasn't like Harry to go back on a promise. Something was definitely wrong…

Ginny's suspicions of foul play intensified when she finally spotted him conversing in rather close quarters with the Slytherin girl in the library. 

Harry leaned closer to the young Slytherin pointing to a specific section of the text she was reading. "That's it right there."

"Oh…I see… I don't know how I could have missed that one."

Ginny's face turned as red as her hair. How could he be helping that bloody Slytherin! He was supposed to be helping _her_! It wasn't fair. It's not like she could go up to him and smack him upside the head. 

Furious, she stormed back to the common room and found Hermione studying. She reported what she saw and then went to question Ron about Harry like she had done ever since the first time he'd cancelled on her. 

                "Look, Ginny, I have no idea what's going on with Harry, all right? Maybe if you'd quit stalking him—" 

                And once again, Ron's comments left her in tears. 

Things only got worse for Ginny. She would see them holding hands as he walked her to her classes and whispering to each other intimately after class. The only time he wasn't with her was meal times since they sat at different tables, but he was always in a rush to meet up with Laura. Ginny was beginning to greatly dislike the name Laura…

                She caught Harry by the arm as he got up from the supper table. "Where are you going?" she asked as if she hadn't a clue.

                "Library… Have a Potions quiz tomorrow…don't want to fail it." He turned to leave.

                "I see," she said, but he had already disappeared. She couldn't help but follow him. She was worried about him. It just wasn't right. She didn't think of it as stalking, it was more the concern of a friend not lusting over someone she hardly knew. She knew Harry and he wasn't acting like normal. She had seen the way he fancied Cho and this definitely wasn't how he was acting with Marwood. This was something different, but not different in a good way.

                When she first entered the library, she didn't find them sitting at their usual table. Casually, she started looking around through bookshelves, pretending that she was looking for a book. She heard a girl's voice whispering, _"You're everything to me Harry. I don't know what I'd do without you."_

_"You have me now. You don't have to be afraid of them. I won't ever let them hurt you again."  
"I was so scared, Harry…so alone…"  
"But you're not alone anymore, Laura…"_

                Ginny couldn't hear the rest of what Marwood said, but she had a feeling it was lost in the meeting of their lips, a thought that Ginny cursed. She didn't want to look. She wanted out. 

                Ginny left the library as quickly as she had entered, sprinting down the hall and searching for Hermione. Ron wouldn't listen to her. He wouldn't care. He wouldn't understand and he'd think it was some fancy of his 'little baby sister'. Hermione would be just as concerned as she was, wouldn't she? 

Finally the information sank in. Hermione was shocked beyond belief that Harry and that Slytherin girl actually _fancied_ each other. Things were looking bad.

Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room with Lavender and Ginny talking about her concerns for Harry. Ginny listened intently to Hermione's concerns, very worried about Harry and hoping that Lavender would know what to do. 

"It's not like I think she has him under some sort of love spell or anything. I mean, she's only a first-year student. She wouldn't have the capacity to do so. I just am worried that he's with a Slytherin," Hermione insisted. 

"True," Lavender commented, reclining onto the couch, "but wasn't she placed in the wrong house or something? That's what Parvati told me." 

"No one's put in the wrong house! That's preposterous!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I don't know Hermione." Lavender shrugged.

"That's beside the point anyway. What I wanted to ask you was about the line between friends and dating." 

"All right," Lavender nodded, smiling. 

Ron entered the portrait hole just as Hermione began whispering, "I was wondering if you spend a lot of time with a bloke…the difference between dating him and just being friends with him is whether or not you're snogging him?" 

Ron nearly had a heart attack. 

"I guess so," Lavender admitted, "You do spend a lot of time with someone if you fancy them…" Lavender wondered if they were still talking about Harry spending so much time with Marwood or if Hermione fancied someone.

Hermione huffed, crossing her arms. "Well I have no idea what I should do about it!" 

"Maybe you shouldn't do anything, just wait and see what happens," Lavender suggested. 

Ron started to head back through the portrait hole when he was spotted by Ginny. "Ron! Hey, can you help me with Transfiguration? You said you had all the notes from last year." 

"Oh, um, hey, Ginny, yeah I do. I'll go get them. It'll just be a minute." He rushed up the stairs without glancing where Hermione still sat talking to Lavender. 

A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading my first Harry Potter fic!

bumpersticker86- I need to find that catalogue… I love Ron when he's crushing over Hermione and blushing. You want to write a song ficlet for him to sing for Hermione? hehe…I love Hamlet! Maybe I should do a Harry/Hamlet ficlet….

Tifa Redfield, CurlsofGold, ses, Sphinx Face, Malfoys-Girl, JenR, Ashley-  Thanks so much for all of your kind words!!

What will happen next? Will there be more Slytherin/Gryffindor angst? Will Hermione devote her life to singing karaoke in order to get Draco out of her head? Will Ron be turned into a newt? Will Ginny express her love for Harry? 


	8. Protector of Spells

Finally Ron was freed from his little sister. He wondered what was up with Harry, but he uh… Well, to be honest, Harry wasn't at the forefront of his thoughts…especially after what Hermione had said about snogging…and spending a lot of time with a bloke…and snogging…and just being friends…and dating…and snogging…"

                "Blimey…" The thought of it sent shivers up and down his spine. Maybe she had heard him when he confessed his feelings. But she couldn't have, could she? If she had, why wouldn't she say something? Maybe because she didn't feel the same way, she was asking Lavender what she should do to let him down easy. But Lavender had told her not to do anything! He sighed. 

                And Harrry? Well, sod Harry! He was happy at least…having a girlfriend and whatnot. And what did Ron get? He got Ginny bothering him with questions about Harry just rubbing it in all the more. How Harry was getting chummy with some Slytherin first year and how Ron wasn't getting shite besides shivers. But a first year student? Wouldn't she be like eleven years old then? And Harry was sixteen. Well that was a bit odd wasn't it?

Ron resolved to figure out a little more about this Slytherin girl. What was her name again? Oh yeah, Marwood. Well, he could just look up her lineage in the library. That'd be a start. Library… Hermione… snogging… He shook his head briskly to get the thought, as nice as it was, out of his head, at least until he found out more about Harry's love interest.

Draco Malfoy was very cross. Why hadn't he been able to enter Hermione's mind the other night? He'd heard about the little incident with Hermione ending up staying the night and the whole day in Ronald Weasel's bedroom. And there had been nothing he could do to stop it. For some reason, he hadn't been able to get into her head that night and he was as infuriated as all hell. 

"Bloody mudblood slag!" he cursed to himself. Finally he rose magnificently from the couch in the Slytherin common room; his robes flowing backward as he strode towards the exit. 

He passed a group of fourth year Slytherin girls who threw themselves at him. They'd do anything for him just for the pleasure of spending time in his presence. It became boring quickly. It's not that he minded their undivided attention; he just knew there was nothing to it; to them. They were like his servants, his mistresses, his whores. He could use them up and throw them away without a second thought. But the conquest…the challenge…all those things were lost.

He moved elegantly through the densely packed hallway past the infamous Scarhead. But something was different about him. He was actually smiling. That was a rare site. Ahh…and his arms around the little Slytherin Princess… Nice… Too bad Rita Skeeter wasn't around anymore or else it'd make a great headliner. He chuckled to himself. They'd get to Potter and his friends somehow.

He made his way to Potions where Professor Snape had finished teaching his last class for the day. When he left for his office, Draco slid knowledgably to the cabinet containing vials and assortments of infusions, shuffling through the few ingredients he needed. 

A/N: I really love that evil grin of Draco's! yum…


	9. Secrets Revealed

'Aha!' thought Ron as he sat perusing a large book of wizarding lineages. 'So that Marwood girl wasn't eleven years old. She was a late admission…transferring from Beauxbaton… Well, that would explain her getting sorted this year.' As Ron read further, more information led to more suspicions. He _had_ to tell Harry. 

                Deciding to tell Harry wasn't a debate, but finding time to do so was the hard thing. Since Ron wasn't living in the same room as him because he was a Prefect now, it made it more difficult to catch Harry, especially since he almost always returned to the Gryffindor rooms late.

                Luckily, the next Monday, Ron finally caught up to him around 9:30pm just before entering the common room. "Hey Harry, haven't seen much of you lately," Ron remarked as casually as possible.

                "Yeah," Harry answered, void of any perceptible emotion, "been busy."

                "So I've noticed. Got yourself a girlfriend... Didn't feel the need to mention it to anyone?" Ron wondered. 

                Harry didn't reply, but said the entry password instead and walked into the common room.

                Ron followed on his heels all the way to Harry's room. "You're never around anymore, Harry. I know you have a girlfriend and everything, but that doesn't mean you should forget about your friends."

                "I haven't forgotten you, Ron. I just have—"

                "More important things to do?" Ron bit back.

                "That's not what I was going to say!"

                "You'd rather spend your time with that Slytherin girl than with me or Hermione and you break promises to my sister over and over!" Ron informed him. "And you know what? I'm sick of hearing Ginny complain to me in tears about you!"

                "Don't call her that!"

                "What?!" Ron demanded.

                "You called Laura, 'That Slytherin Girl'. It's not very nice," Harry defended.

                "Like you're being nice to my sister?!" Ron countered. 

                "You don't understand," Harry tried to explain.

                "Then talk to me!" Ron wondered why Harry had completely disregarded the comment he'd made about Ginny and only thought about how Ron called Laura 'that Slytherin girl'.

                Harry exhaled before speaking. "Look, ever since she was sorted into Slytherin all the other Slytherins have been teasing her relentlessly. She doesn't think she belongs in Slytherin and neither do I. She needed a friend and—"

                Ron chuckled sarcastically, "Very convenient of you, eh? Just happened to be there… Something's not right about her."

                "How could you say something like that, Ron? You're supposed to be my best friend!"

"And you're supposed to be _mine_!" Ron argued. A few minutes passed before Ron spoke again. He didn't want to be in a fight with Harry. They had been through so much over the past five years; something as stupid as him having a girlfriend shouldn't come between them. "Why is she teased anyway?"

"Because she's muggle-born," Harry responded quietly. 

"She _is_ _not_," Ron contradicted. 

"She told me—" Harry started.

"Believe me, she isn't. Not even half. She's all witch, Harry, both of her parents went to school here." Ron folded his arms in front of him. "I looked it up in some lineage book at the library."

"I don't believe it…" Harry was taken aback. "Why would she be teased then? Why-" 

"I don't know, but I do know that she is a pure-blood."

He shook his head in denial. Was Ron lying to him because he was jealous of him and Laura? But Ron had never lied to him before. He had to be telling him the truth… It took a moment for the information to sink in. 

"I may not know much about her, Harry, but I do know one thing: she _is_ a pure blood."

Harry, after a restless night's sleep, was determined to figure out why Laura had lied to him. There must be a reason for it, he was sure. When he met Laura to walk with her to her first hour class, she could tell something was wrong with him.

                "Are you all right, Harry?" she asked, dislodging her arm from his as they reached the door to the classroom.

                "Yeah, I'm fine…"

                She gave him a peck on the cheek. "See you after class then." She turned, her raven hair swung gracefully behind her.

                "Wait—" Harry stopped her.

                She rotated back again asking, "What?"

                He held a book out. "Forgot this."

                "Thanks," she replied and kissed him again, this time on the lips. She fluttered her long eyelashes instinctively and smiled before going back into the classroom.

                Harry exhaled, wondering why anything so beautiful could fancy him. He was so lucky. It wasn't until after he went to his own class that he remembered she'd lied to him. Well, only if Ron was right…

Once classes were over for the day, Harry and Laura found an empty classroom where they could sit and chat. Laura knew he wanted to tell her something, but she wasn't sure exactly what it was. She hoped nothing horrible had happened. She was concerned about him. "What is it, Harry?" Her hand found his shoulder.

                He faced her, looking into her eyes saying clearly, "I hear you _are_ a pure-blood. Why did you lie?" 

She blinked once; looking befuddled that he had actually said this to her, but then her expression sank into despair. She confessed, "I might as well be…I have no magical talent. I shouldn't even be allowed to enrol here." 

Harry wasn't quite sure if he could believe her, but she persisted. She took out her wand to show him. "Wingardium Leviosa," she stated the most basic command and nothing happened. "Luminous!" she yelled, but again, nothing happened. "See!" Her eyes began to tear up.

"Maybe it's your wand?" he thought.

She shook her head. "Can't be. You know they wouldn't sell me the wrong wand." 

"Well, maybe it's broken." He took it from her hand, examining it. 

She shrugged. 

Harry held up the wand. "Luminous," he said and it lighted up. "Seems to work just fine." He handed it back to her. 

"It's true!" she cried, "I'm not a witch at all!" She collapsed on his shoulder, crying. 

He comfortingly hugged her. He felt so bad that he'd mentioned it to her. "It doesn't matter to me either way whether you're a pure-blood or not."

"But I can't do any magic! Not at all! And you must hate me now. You'd never want to be seen with a non-magic witch! I can't-"

He silenced her with a kiss.


	10. Secrets Revealed part 2

It had been two weeks since Hermione had fallen asleep in Ron's room. Since then, she had been sleeping in her own room after that, but it was hard because Malfoy was still invading her thoughts at night. She tossed and turned every night, barely sleeping. Every night sick, twisted nightmares set up permanent residence in her head. When she woke with heavy eyes, she felt used. She wished she could talk to someone, but she felt so dirty, as if the dreams were all her own ideas. She knew she wasn't to blame, but it was so sick and twisted, she was embarrassed by it.

It was another Monday morning. She never dreaded the beginning of a school week, hell, it was usually what she looked forward to all weekend, but it was getting monotonous. She pulled herself up and dragged her exhausted carcass into the bathroom to get cleaned up for class. She looked into the mirror as she washed her face and saw she looked like a zombie. What would people think? She didn't care anymore. She brushed her teeth and dressed, meeting Ron and Harry downstairs to go to walk together, but of course Harry had already left ten minutes prior to meet up with the Slytherin girl. 

                Ron was worried about her, but he didn't ask her if anything was wrong, knowing if he did, she'd simply rebuff him with a curt "I'm fine." Instead, he just offered to carry her heaviest book which she allowed. He wouldn't pressure her even though he wanted to know everything she was going through. He knew after that night she'd fallen asleep at the desk in his room that she wasn't angry with him anymore about not being a Prefect. He also knew that something was preventing her from getting enough sleep.

                All day, Hermione wanted him to ask her what was wrong because she hadn't the guts to tell him outright. She didn't want to appear weak. During the second to last period, she dozed off. 

"'Mione…" Ron softly nudged her. "'Mione…"

"Shove off—…foy…" she mumbled. 

Ron poked her once more and her eyes opened. "Sorry, 'Mione, but class is over and we have to get to next hour."

"I was asleep? Oh, right…class." She pounced out of her seat and ran to Potions.

Ron didn't want to be late for Potions, so he followed her. Falling asleep in class now? Bloody hell, she must really have something wrong with her. He knew her homework grades were slipping, but obviously not to an extent that Hermione noticed…at least not yet anyways.

Draco was deep in thought as he trod past Potter and Marwood, but he wasn't so deep in thought that he didn't overlook Marwood's gaze. He discerned she was looking at the Boy Who Shouldn't Have Lived too fondly. He turned his nose up at the pair, sneering. He was suspicious that Marwood actually fancied Potter and that was not allowable. Marwood was a Slytherin; automatically a sworn enemy of any Gryffindor, especially Potter and his friends. At the same time, he wanted a piece of Hermione, so it was perfectly acceptable if she wanted to use Potter. He couldn't begrudge her that.

He would have to make sure that was what Marwood was doing. Before Potions was over, he snuck out. Snape wouldn't mind. He stole over to Marwood's class and caught her before Scarhead arrived to walk with her wherever they planned on going. "Walk with me," he commanded.

He said nothing more to her until they were close to the Slytherin rooms. "He knows you're not a mudblood now..."

Laura merely said the entrance password and walked into the common room.

Draco entered after her and spun her around by grabbing her wrist. "Didn't even both lying about your name? Or charm you hair a different colour?" he asked, stinging with sweetness. "What's your new angle? You've got no sympathy card to play now."

She batted her long lashes and her signature come-hither smile graced her face as she said, "Don't worry."

"Make sure he mistrusts his friends and seeks solace only in you and I won't need to worry!" he told her.

"Quidditch is the farthest thing from his mind, Draco," she cooed. "He'd much rather spend time with me."

"That's a start…" he admitted only slightly.

She stroked the side of his neck, sending shivers down his spine. "Don't worry," she repeated before exiting back through the portrait to meet up with Harry.

But Draco _was_ vexed. She better not be fancying a non-Slytherin. She had an assignment and he needed to make sure she carried it out. He followed her at a distance, carefully observing her actions around Potter. Marwood was his new favourite plaything. He'd see that she earned the title of Slytherin Queen and this was her test.

A/N: Hold onto your knickers!


	11. I Want You, I Need You, But I Can’t Have...

A/N: be forewarned- there's sex in this chapter, that's partially why the PG-13 rating (more like TV-14)  
 

Once Draco tired of watching Marwood throw herself at Potter, he found his way to the library. When his eyes fell on the slim, yet voluptuous figure of Granger, he had quite forgotten about Scarhead. 

It was just about four in the afternoon and Hermione was alone at a desk towards a corner of the library. She looked like she wanted to hide from the other Gryffindors, but she wanted to be around other people in order to stay awake so there were plenty of other people in the library, they just weren't sitting close to her. 

Watching her uncross and re-cross her silky legs, Draco was intoxicated. He approached her from behind and whispered in her ear a nasty comment while touching her inappropriately. He tempted her with what he wanted to do to her. "You want me to…"

She hated the things he said to her, the way he was fondling her, but most of all, she hated that she felt she should give in to him. "You know you want it…" She blamed her surrendering feelings on her sleep-deprivation. She had to remind herself who's fault it was and eventually pushed him away from her.

After she pushed him, he sat down next to her with his hand on her neck, gleeful that he was wearing her down. 'Soon, Granger…' he thought to himself. She was a challenge and it turned him on. He'd get revenge on Potter through her. 

Draco was jealous of Potter and at the same time, to a certain extent he was jealous of Weasley as well though he'd never admit it. 

He said slowly, "Your," he slowly drew his index finger across the lower part of her neck, "loss." He stood up and exited the library grinning like a victorious dark knight.

Ron entered the library just when Malfoy was leaving. He saw the malicious grin on Malfoy's face and ran to find Hermione at the back of the library. When he found her, he saw she was obviously upset. "He did it again, didn't he?"

She turned away from him, unable to meet his eyes, but she didn't lie to him. She softly answered, "Yes."

Ron's eyes bulged as his anger reddened his face. He should have been there! "I'll kill him!" he vowed. 

Hermione pulled him down next to where she sat saying, "Don't …please… Just stay here with me and keep me awake to study. We've got a test tomorrow." She hated that she wasn't thinking straight because she was sleepy thanks to Malfoy and knew it was only a matter of time before he succeeded in whatever evil plan he had set for them. If she was at full capacity, she could curse him…

She asked, "How's Harry?" 

"Fine I guess," Ron told her. She was changing the subject. "He seems happy about having a girlfriend." He couldn't help, but let his eyes fall into hers when he said the word 'girlfriend'. 

She probed further when she realized he was staring at her. "How is that Slytherin girl?" She refused to call her by name or even acknowledge that she was Harry's girlfriend.

Ron thought quickly. Should he tell Hermione that Marwood had lied to Harry? He wanted to tell her everything but he didn't want her to feel anymore stress. She had enough on her mind plus having to study. "I don't think she's much to think about." 

Content with his answer, she looked back at her homework.

Ron sat there, wishing that nothing was wrong with her. If she was all right, then he could tell her everything about Harry and that Slytherin girl. He could talk to her about everything and then…he could ask her out. After a few minutes of blissfully daydreaming about Hermione, he asked, "You going to spend your whole day swotting? Or would you like to play a game of snap?"

Instead of replying, "I'm going to study, of course! All you think about is games when-blah blah blah…" like he expected she'd say, she remarked, "Sure." 

If she was actually taking him up on an activity that wasn't school-related, she must be exhausted and not thinking straight. Ron didn't mind at all.

Deliciously lustful Draco returned to the Slytherin common room after his glorious temptation of Granger. Though he was wearing her down, she wasn't giving in to him yet and he needed some release. When Laura slinked over to Draco's side after she returned to the common room, he was nearly bursting with desire. 

                "Where ya been?" she asked, her perfectly straightened ivory teeth glistening.

                Draco didn't reply, but observed her school-issued skirt had been folded over a few extra illegal times so her thigh was visible. Gods! If Granger had given in to him, he wouldn't _need_ Laura now. The last swish of Laura's skirt was all the stimulus he needed.

                In less than a second, his hands were roughly grabbing her waist, forcing her to be face-to-face with him. She gasped sensuously at the rough treatment, but made no move to stop him. His lips were on hers and her hands were pulling at the fastening of his slacks. In mere seconds, he was on top of her half naked form on the Slytherin couch.

They were oblivious to the fact that they were in the centre of the open common room on the couch in the middle of the afternoon.

"Thought you didn't like me anymore," she remarked after he had finished. 

                "Just reminding you how good you have it," he responded. Something Potter would never be able to give her. 

                He was about to get up, but she somehow was able to force him back down with her body on top of his. He thought he owned her, but she was more calculating than him. She knew about his fascination, or rather _obsession_ with Granger. She knew he needed her because he couldn't have Granger, so she'd use it to her advantage, hopefully changing his need into desire for _her_. She would make him beg. He would be hers.

                Other Slytherins were in the room watching or talking about them, but they didn't seem to care. People would talk, that's what they do. Eventually he was done with her. His lust disappeared and tossed her out like a slag ordering her, "Go back to Scarhead."

                She sniffed regally, folding her skirt one time more than it was folded earlier. His hand went up her thigh and she slapped it away, walking gracefully through the portrait.

A/N: Evil enough? ::grins:: 

OOC A/N: reason why I believe they started Hogwarts in 1991: J.K. Rowling gave us the clue in Book 2, at Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party. The decorations on Nick's cake say that he died 500 years previously, on October 31, 1492. So the Deathday party must be on October 31, 1992. Harry's second year at Hogwarts must start in September 1992. His first year must start in September 1991. 


	12. Stranger Things Have Happened, Right?

After class, Ginny spent a lot of time hanging out with her friends in Hufflepuff. Owen Cauldwell's older sister Janet was the same age as Ginny and they had nearly all their classes together. Janet was the sweetest, most caring person she ever met. She couldn't believe they only knew each other for a year. They were best of friends and in their spare time they enjoyed writing stories.

                It was a rule of thumb that Hufflepuffs made good friends; it was just that no one could depend on them to stand up for you if you got in a sticky spot. It was all right though because Ginny wasn't particularly teased anymore, since she gave up on fancying Harry Potter. It had been a month since he started going out with the Slytherin Laura and Ginny wasn't concerned about Harry any longer. 

                "I saw Harry with that Marwood girl," Orla Quirke, a Ravenclaw third-year, was telling Eleanor Branstone, "I can't believe he's going out with a Slytherin after all that I heard about him. I knew he spoke parseltongue and everything, but he's a Gryffindor. I dunno. It doesn't make sense to me."

                "That's old news, Orla," Susan replied. "I just can't imagine how Ginny feels. She has such a crush on him."

                Ginny glared over Janet's shoulder at the pair.

                "Don't let them bother you, Gin. They're just stupid third-years," Janet reassured her.

                Ginny's face was already red before she told her friend, "I don't fancy Harry! I'm just his friend! Why does everyone think I am obsessed with him?"

                Janet shrugged.

                "Tell me!"

                Janet didn't want to upset her friend, but she had to be honest. "I think it's because you followed him and Laura around so much when they first started going out. Maybe other people noticed and put two-and-two together," she suggested. "I don't know."

                "UGH! I was just trying to make sure she wasn't seducing him or something!" Ginny nearly yelled. The two third-years looked up at her for a moment then went back to talking and giggling. Ginny lowered her voice. "You're right though, Janet. I probably seemed like I was stalking him just like Ron said." She sighed, "Not much I can do about it now.

                "They'll get over it. Soon enough everyone will be talking about how Laura Madley is madly in love with Graham Pritchard even though—"

                "Pritchard? But I thought she was going out with Kevin Whitby." Ginny was shocked.

                "She is! That's why it's so crazy...even more so that she fancies a Slytherin."

                Ginny shook her head, entertained thoroughly, "That'll definitely be something for people to talk about. How did you find out anyway?"

                Janet pointed to her tie. "Hufflepuff." She smiled. "I overheard Laura going on about how wonderful 'Grahamykins' is when Kevin came in and was furious."

                Ginny giggled like Orla and Eleanor had earlier. Then she noticed the time. "I better be getting back to the Gryffindor side. See you in class tomorrow."

                "Night," Janet called after her.

                Ginny was still giggling about the new love triangle between two Hufflepuffs and a Slytherin when she returned to the Gryffindor common rooms. 

                She entered to find Hermione and Ron sitting together in a large chair. Hermione was asleep with her thick book drooping and nearly falling out of her left hand while Ron was still reading his book. Ginny allowed her eyes to notice that though Hermione's left hand still held a book, her right hand was entwined with Ron's left hand. 

                As cute as she thought the site was, Ginny had completely forgotten until then that she had a Defence Against the Dark Arts research paper due the next day that she hadn't even started. She ran up to her room, dropped off a few books and grabbed a fresh parchment with her quill. On her way out, she waved to Ron, who gave her a quick wave back and she walked back toward the study room near Hufflepuff.

                Who did she know that was good at Defence Against the Dark Arts? She wracked her mind as she bounced down the stairs. Immersed in thought, she tripped and fell down the last staircase; her notes and papers swirled around her. Ginny pushed herself up as a familiar voice drawled, "You all right there, sweet bit?"

                She picked up her head and was surprised to see Draco Malfoy. "Yeah…sure…"

                He helped her pick up her belongings. "No comeback?" he wondered aloud. She _was_ a Weasley after all.

                "Didn't think there was need for one." She took her stuff back from him. Why was he looking at her like that? And why hadn't he laughed at her for falling down the stairs?

                He noticed the subject and remarked, "Defence Against the Dark Arts, eh? Need any help?" 

                Why was he offering to help her? Something was definitely up. "It's a research paper due tomorrow. I haven't started." She was suspicious, but he still hadn't laughed at her and she _really_ needed to get it done. Plus, rejecting an offer of help was just stupid.  

                "So is that a yes?" he asked suavely.

                She gave him a questioning look, but his confidence intrigued her. She allowed a cautious smile to grace her expression as she accepted him. There was no doubt her mind that Draco's initial intention in helping her with her homework had to do with personal gain, but exactly what he expected to gain, she hadn't a clue. "So where were you going when you saw me fall down the stairs?"

                "Actually, on my way to ask your brother why he never eats at the Prefect table."

                She couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but told him, "Well, he's indisposed anyway."

                Draco shot her a questioning look.

                With a side-glance she said, "He's with Hermione…"

                "Oh…" A trace of disappointment resonated through his usually composed expression. He wasn't stupid he just didn't realize until that moment that it was obvious Hermione and Ron had already _been_ together. How could he have been so daft as to think he'd be the first one to get there? Well, there was no point in him lusting after Hermione anymore. His whole conception of her was changed in that instant. 

                What about Ginny? He wondered if he'd be able to use her and her jealousy of Laura. It couldn't have been by chance that he ran into her like this. 

While Ginny was getting assistance from Malfoy,Laura was snogging Harry in a secluded area that was more like an abandoned cloak closet than an actual room. She allowed Harry to be the more dominate of the two of them, so she pulled away slightly. His hands moved from her back to her waist and she flinched. He came back to her again, but she shied away from him, bowing her head.

                "Are you all right?" Harry asked her.

                She shook her head.

                "Did I do something wrong?"

                She shook her head again. "No, of course not. It's just—"

                "What?" He caressed her chin only to find a tear sliding down her left cheek. "You can tell me. If I've upset you, please let me know."

                "You didn't do anything," she told him honestly, "It was Malfoy…He…"

                "He what?" Harry prodded, visibly worried.

                "He…" She pulled her tucked shirt out of her skirt and lifted it slightly to reveal the bruises on her sides and her waist. She felt incredibly guilty. How could she tell him that she and Malfoy had— She couldn't tell him she actually wanted to because she hadn't, not that she hadn't enjoyed it partially, but she didn't want to say she'd cheated on him. He'd think she was a slag like Draco already thought she was.

                "He…did this…" Harry struggled to put words together, "to…you?"

                She could only nod.

                "I-I don't know what to say." Malfoy had physically assaulted his girlfriend. "Why? Why would he do this to you?"

                "He forced me to—" How could she say it? She choked on the words with tears welling in her eyes.

                Harry was in shock. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry…Laura…" He let her fall into his arms, stroking her long black hair, letting her cry into his robes.

                Her tears were guilty tears, wishing she didn't have to lie to the one person she really cared for, but this was the only way. She hadn't meant to start loving him. She hadn't meant to.

  
A/N: Is she playing him? Is she being truthful or not? Hey, at least Harry's getting some in my fanfic. ::grins::


	13. Fuel for Fire

Ron was about halfway through the book he was reading. He would have been able to finish it, but it was rather challenging flipping the pages with one hand without waking Hermione. It was getting late and he really needed to pee. He shifted to get up, but Hermione still held onto his hand. He felt a twinge of lacking as they separated, but shot into his room quicker than you could say 'Quidditch'. He swore it only took him a minute, but when he got back, Hermione was gone. His head dropped and he sighed. 

                It wasn't easy being the best friend of Harry Potter.   
                Harry was famous and had fans before he even knew how to speak.   
                Harry was the Seeker; so no matter how many points Gryffindor scored, Harry's catching of the snitch was the pivotal moment that won the game.   
                No matter how much his friends helped him; Harry was the one who always got the credit for saving the day.   
                Harry was a hero.

                There were loads of reasons to envy Harry, but Ron wasn't jealous of the attention anymore. He knew what toll it took on Harry and he wouldn't wish it on anyone. The real reason he envied Harry was, Ron knew, a rather undignified reason. He envied Harry because Harry got everything Ron wanted. He was on the Quidditch team, sure, but the fact Harry had a girlfriend before Ron irked him the most. True, Ron was a Prefect with responsibilities, but he didn't think he deserved it- Hermione did. 

                Hermione deserved to be a Prefect because she _was_ the smartest of them.   
                She worked the hardest and aced all her tests.   
                She was someone to be admired; the most talented witch in all of Hogwarts.   
                She deserved to be with a hero…her knight in shining armour.   
                Harry was that hero.   
                And Ron was merely his sidekick.

                But Harry wasn't there when she needed him. He hadn't been there when she was suffering and Malfoy was taking advantage of her...Then again, neither had Ron. Ron hadn't been able to stop Malfoy, but he had been there to comfort her, hadn't he? He had done a lot of things for her, small things, but that counted for something, didn't it? Now he was all confused and he felt like a prat for standing in the common room internalising all of this while staring at the chair they'd been sharing. 

                He didn't realise Hermione had returned to the common room. Her sleep habits were all out of sync. "You OK?" she asked him warily.

                Ron looked as though she had startled him. "Oh yeah. Sure." He looked at her. "Hermione? You scared me there."

                "What are you doing?" she wondered.

                "Nothing," he automatically replied. "Just- I was looking for you. Then I saw you'd gone to bed." He scratched the back of his neck absentmindedly. 

                "Ah, I see." She gave him a questioning look. She approached the chair saying, "Forgot my book." She picked it up off the floor; dangerously close to him. Without warning, her heart beat faster as if it was in a race of some kind. She didn't understand why she was so nervous all of a sudden. She clutched the book to her chest and dared to look at Ron. Her heart beat faster. What was wrong with her? 'He's Ron,' an inner voice was saying, 'He's your friend. He's one of your best friends…' Hermione couldn't breath. 'We're friends…just friends…really…but…do I like him? Like _that_?' 

                Ron was confused when she swiftly kissed him on the cheek before uttering, "Night," and running from the room. He barely whispered his echoing, "Night," because he was still in shock. Thoughts of Harry having a girlfriend floated out of his head as the kiss Hermione had given him on the cheek lingered and cooled. He put a hand to wear she had kissed him and couldn't help but grin idiotically. 

It was after hours once Ginny finished her paper. She knew she'd have to re-write it once she got back to her room, but at least it was finished. As she wrote the last word she said, "Thanks for you help, Malf-er- Draco." She looked up to see him looking at her in an unusual way.

                Draco lost his composure and actually took a moment to collect himself before replying, "Yeah, sure. No problem." 

                There was something about the way he grinned… 

                Before she got up to leave he asked, "You're not too fond of that Marwood girl, are you?"

                Ginny was frozen in place as is she'd been petrified.

                "You want to get revenge on her for shagging Harry?" He asked bluntly.

                "I don't want revenge on her. I was just concerned…" Ginny stuttered, her eyes locked on Draco's.

                "Because you fancy Harry," Draco naturally assumed.

                "I do _not _fancy Harry!" Ginny countered. 

                Draco's face registered shock. 

                "I used to fancy him, but it was childish and stupid. It was like when he was crushing on Cho. That's how it was for me, but I'm glad he's got a girlfriend." Before Draco could oppose her she added quickly, "OK, I wasn't glad at first, but he seems happy and I guess that's good. I actually might fancy someone else." For some strange reason, she didn't feel weird about telling Draco this. Maybe she was under some spell.

                "Oh really…" He hesitated a tad before asking, "Like who?" He grinned devilishly. 

                Was he actually blushing? Draco Malfoy? Blushing? Maybe it was Ginny who was blushing, she couldn't tell. Something in that falter led her to believe his flashy confidence wasn't necessarily all true. She was curious about the _true _Draco; the one hidden under a camouflage of feigned confidence.

                Ginny felt heat rise in her cheeks, but she kept calm replying, "None of your business."

                "Guess you're not up on revenge then, eh?" Draco asked almost in jest.

                "Of course not." She thought about his suggestion of revenge, but as a true Gryffindor at heart, she would never succumb to the temptations of evil no matter how good they sounded. She remembered the diary of Tom Riddle and how much pain she'd brought. She would never do anything that would hurt someone else. Maybe he hadn't been literal with his suggestion of revenge, but she'd have to keep a closer eye on him.

                Her resistance to revenge intrigued him. "Of course not," he repeated faintly. She radiated a purity he could never dream of achieving now matter how 'pure' his blood was.           

  
A/N: ooooo, is Ginny playing with fire?  
btw- In the previous chapter someone commented on the use of third-years. The third-years are talking about Ginny, but Ginny *is* a fifth years student, we all know that :-) 

Laura isn't really a first year, she transferred from Beauxbatons, or so we are led to believe. She is 14 or 15 (we don't know for sure yet) Have faith, everything will be revealed in time….bwhahahahahaaa!


	14. Damage is Done

As Ron lay in bed trying to fall asleep, he was thinking about if two years ago someone asked him about Hermione, he'd have said, "Hermione? Eew! I hate her! She's bossy and arrogant and a know-it-all!" And if they asked if he'd like to kiss her, he'd have said, "Kill me before I have to kiss _her_... rather eat slugs!" But hadn't he eaten slugs for her? 

                God, he'd been so stupid back then. How long did it take for him to realize he liked her? He'd fought Malfoy more than once for her. And that comment Malfoy made about her being his girlfriend, he should have responded with "I wish!" but he didn't have the guts. 

                Maybe in some respects it was true. No one else would ask either him or Hermione out because everyone assumed they were already together. Another reason people probably didn't ask Hermione out was because they knew he'd beat them up or hold a grudge against them until they broke up. He smiled.

                Soon it'd be Christmas. He hadn't a clue what to give her this year. It wasn't as if he had a lot of money to buy her anything really nice. Maybe he could sponge some money off Bill or Percy… If only he got paid for being a Prefect.

Two days later, Ginny was walking with Janet to the study room when she saw the back of Laura's head acting aggressive towards some other person. She couldn't tell who Laura was talking to, but she saw her push the other person backwards before Ginny could tell who it was. Janet hadn't noticed and kept walking down the hallway towards Laura, but Ginny pulled her back to stop her.

                "What?!" Janet demanded.

                "Shh!" Ginny commanded. She pointed down the hallway a bit from where they 'hid' behind a stone pillar. 

                Janet gasped, "Malfoy!"

                "What?" Ginny blinked and nearly pushed Janet over as she moved into Janet's view. It looked, from Ginny's perspective that Laura was cursing at him, but could only overhear bits and pieces.

                "Bloody hell! You're as brainless of a git as Goyle!" Laura was cussing.

                "I'm sorry…" His voice was muffled as people shuffled past in the hallway "…it is a shame you're so upset." Draco sounded sincere. 

                "…not much you can say…damage…done…pray Harry doesn't find out about…ruin everything."

                 Then after a moment, Draco bowed his head, nodding. Laura's expression changed. She slinked around his back, sliding her hands on his shoulders, swishing her skirt in front of him, and finally pressing him against the wall. Ginny's eyes widened as she watched. He wasn't responding to Laura and backed away. Laura pursued him, pushing him against a table but he pushed Laura away gently and walked away.

                Janet tugged at her sleeve. "Let's just go."

                It took a second for it to sink in and Ginny blinked saying, "Yeah." She watched him walk past their hiding spot and decided to do her own investigation as to who this Marwood girl was and what she wanted with Malfoy. Something didn't fit and she was going to figure out what.

What Really Happened:  
Laura cornered Draco in the hallway, complaining about how all the Slytherins gossiping about her and Draco, calling her a slag. This hadn't been a problem until she and Harry were officially dating.           

                "Who did you tell?" she demanded, "Crabbe and Goyle? Every male in Slytherin?" 

                "You're just as much at fault as I am! Need I remind you—the middle of the common room in the afternoon?" he sneered back. "Come on woman! Everyone knew from that little incident!" 

                "You're trying to put this all on me?" 

                "Didn't realize you cared so much about your reputation." 

                "Bloody hell! You're as brainless of a git as Goyle!" 

                "I'm sorry they're treating you badly," Draco replied honestly. 

                "A liar too, this is rich," she laughed sarcastically. "You love it! It boosts your ego to blabber about scoring with the new girl." 

                "I didn't say anything to anyone, but it is a shame you're so upset." 

                "Not much you can say that'll change anything. The damage is already done," she acknowledged. "I just pray Harry doesn't find out about this. It could ruin everything." 

                "He won't find out from me," Draco said, bowing his head. "We still have work to do before the Quidditch match." 

                "I know," she replied compliantly. "All's forgiven," she sexily whispered to him, pressing her body into his. 

                For some reason, Draco's mind was elsewhere, lost in the thought of auburn hair and innocuous freckles. He backed away from Laura, but she pursued him, pressing him against the wall as he has previously done to her. 

A/N: Stay tuned for Quidditch!


	15. Accusations

The Saturday before Holiday Break, Harry and his fellow Quidditch team members were on the Quidditch pitch in their scarlet robes facing Hufflepuff. It was a good thing that Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw when they did because Ravenclaw beat Hufflepuff's pretty solid team and surprisingly, Hufflepuff had already defeated Slytherin which shocked the entire school. 

                For once—in the first time Harry experienced—Gryffindor faced a challenge in defeating Hufflepuff. Gryffindor, unlike Hufflepuff, faced a huge reassembly after so many players graduated. Of course Oliver Wood was long gone. The Weasley twins, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell had graduated already and the Gryffindor team was entirely dismantled. Basically, their team relied heavily on Harry and Harry hadn't exactly had been concentrating on Quidditch since he met Marwood.

                Harry had become a bit cocky since the start of the Quidditch season and hadn't been to all the practices on time. Practices were usually three times a week at seven, but their captain, Alicia Spinnet, agreed that Harry was talented and he was probably right about not needing the extra practice every week. Then their game against Hufflepuff showed Harry falter that nearly cost them the game.

                "Looks like Potter's new broom hasn't improved his game."

                "I can't believe we almost lost to Hufflepuff!"

                "At least we beat Ravenclaw!"

                "That was bleeding luck, that's what it was!"

                Harry was disappointed at the near loss to Hufflepuff, but didn't feel that it was his fault. He blamed it on the fact their team was so dismantled after last year. 

                After the game, Laura was the first spectator to run over to Harry and congratulate him. "You won! You won!" She kissed him on the lips, throwing her arms around him. 

                It was as if all the previous Quidditch games paled in comparison. He never felt so glad to win if not to impress someone he cared for. He couldn't hear the cheers or the expressions of contradiction over his performance. All Harry heard was, "You look awfully sexy in uniform," which Laura whispered in his ear causing him to smile broader.

"It's all Laura!" Ginny exclaimed in the Quidditch stands. 

                "What?" Hermione asked her, only half-listening.

                Ginny pulled Hermione's arm saying, "It's Laura's fault! She's the one who's behind everything! She's the reason Harry took so long catching the snitch—She's—" 

                "Really Ginny, I don't think she's all that bad," Neville piped in.

                "Not all that bad?" Ginny looked as if she could smack him. 

                "Don't mind her, she's just jealous of her because she's Harry's girlfriend," Natalie McDonald explained to her boyfriend Neville. 

                "I'm not jealous!"

                "Denial…" another fifth-year interjected

                "Anyway," Ginny ignored them, "if you don't believe me, then how do you explain it?" she asked Hermione.

                "I don't know, Ginny, maybe he's not having a good day."

                Ron put in, "Do you really think it's Laura's fault that Harry wasn't great today?"

                "I do." Ginny crossed her arms. "She's a Slytherin and she's evil."

                "Well that's going a bit far, don't you think?" Hermione added.

                "Sure," Ginny said simply. She pointed towards the Quidditch field where Harry and Laura were embracing. "It's all in my head."

                Hermione, Ron, Neville, and the other Gryffindors who overheard their conversation also looked onto the field and saw them. 

                "Doesn't prove anything, her going and congratulating him," Natalie said.

                Hermione was tired and the fighting was making her head hurt. She disappeared from the crowd and headed inside to get something to eat. Ron followed her.

Hours later, once Harry changed out of his uniform and ate supper, he realized Ron and Hermione hadn't congratulated him after the game. He hadn't even _seen_ either of them at the game. That was strange. He conferred with Laura about this and she seemed to agree there must be something wrong. 

                "You should go back to Gryffindor Tower and see if they're there," Laura said. "Plus, they're sure to have a party seeing as how you won today and all." She smiled reassuringly.

                He squeezed her hand and got up from the table. "Want to meet up later?" he asked before he left.

                "I hope there isn't any trouble, Harry, but even if it isn't, I think you should be with your friends tonight."

                He nodded a little glumly. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

                "Tomorrow," she replied.

                He bent over and kissed her deeply.

                Before getting uncontrollable, she pushed away saying softly, "Go."

                Eventually Harry strode away. When he got to Gryffindor Tower, there were only a few late partiers, but most of them had already gone out to Hogsmeade or up to bed. He looked around for Ron or Hermione, but they weren't there. He walked over to Ron's room and knocked on the door. 

                Ron opened the door. "Harry! Er-Good job today…"

                "Thanks," Harry said, "Was wondering why I didn't see you or Hermione after the game. Is everything all right?"

                Ron made a motion for him to lower his voice whispering, "Everything's fine. Hermione wasn't feeling good, but she's all right now."

                Harry looked into Ron's room and saw Hermione asleep in his bed. Not wanting to jump to any conclusions Harry merely asked, "What was wrong?"

                "Not quite sure, she wouldn't tell me. Complained of a headache though. I think she just needed to sleep." Ron shrugged.

                Harry was suspicious, but didn't want to make anything out of what was probably nothing. They were his best friends… They wouldn't hide the fact if they were in a relationship, would they? "There's nothing else going on then?"

                Ron shook his head.

                "Right, well…" Harry looked behind at the common room. "Better catch up with the lot headed for Hogsmeade. Want anything?"

                "Er-No thanks, Harry," Ron replied swiftly.

                Harry gave his eternally hungry for junk food friend a questioning look before saying, "All right. See you."

A/N: I'm making Alicia Spinnet the Gryffindor team captain, because I didn't want Harry to be Captain. She probably already graduated, but I didn't want to make up a name. I know she was in the first three books as a Chaser, but you never know, she could have been a year older than Harry. ::shrugs:: If you have a better suggestion, please let me know. It's pretty easy to swap a different name in ;) [it's so hard because it's not like there was school Quidditch in the 4th book] 

Stay tuned for Christmas Holidays, Mistletoe, and shippiness!! 


	16. Christmas Kisses

Mrs. Weasley invited all the kids to stay at the burrow for the holidays, but since Laura wasn't going home, Harry wanted to stay. Hermione's parents wanted her to go home. If she told them she was going to the Weasley's instead, they would feel jilted so she decided if Ron was staying, she'd stay. Ginny wasn't going home and neither was Harry, so Ron figured he'd stay as well. 

                Soon it was Christmas. All of Hogwarts was decked out with decorations, especially the Great Hall. After a magnificent Christmas dinner, all the present students separated to have their own celebrations with friends. The Astronomy tower was never busier any other time of the year. Harry and Laura spent most of the time trying to find a private spot to exchange gifts among other things. Meanwhile, Gryffindor Tower was clearing out and soon only a few people were left, drinking hot cocoa and sitting next to the fire.

                Ron wished Harry were there so they could play a game of chess or something. He shot a glance across the room to where Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati sat drinking cocoa. Hermione was laughing. The firelight highlighted her hair and he'd never seen her glow so radiantly. She looked so mature. Ugh, if only Lavender and Parvati would leave… He wanted to give her his present. She had given him the gift she'd pre-ordered in August the night before, but for some reason he'd forgotten all about it with the joy he found in the new broom she'd gotten him. She gave it to him in hopes he'd make it next year. 

                He got up and ran to his room to get the gift. After grabbing the small package, he walked back into the common room with that package in hand. Parvati saw what Ron was holding and drew the conclusion he'd like to be alone with Hermione. She poked Lavender in the side. Lavender glanced upwards and also saw Ron there. They got up to leave at the same time, whispering quietly as they went to their rooms. Hermione then looked up, saw Ron, and didn't realize they were alone. He sat down next to her on the couch and cleared his throat. 

                "I forgot to give you this yesterday…" He handed her the package with an apologetic half-smile. "Happy Christmas, Hermione."

                "Thanks," she said. She opened it up. Her eyes widened and a smile appeared on her face as she pulled the silver chained necklace from the box. It had a silver H with "love Ron" engraved on the back.

                "It's not as expensive as the broom you got me…" He felt ashamed and knew he'd be paying back Charlie and Bill for centuries. "I'm sorry. I mean—I hope it's all right—"

                "It's beautiful," she smiled broader. "Thank you."

                "You're welcome."

                "Wingardium leviosa," Parvati levitated some mistletoe while Lavender giggled quietly.

                Hermione saw the floating mistletoe knowing it was meant to hover above her head instead of Ron's, took advantage of the moment and kissed him straight on the lips. 

                Ron was terrified and their first kiss was stunted by his nerves. She thought he hadn't wanted her to kiss him so she nervously pointed to the mistletoe that had now floated to the centre of where they sat. He nodded as if to say 'right', feeling she wouldn't have kissed him otherwise. Parvati moved the mistletoe slightly so it was now above Hermione's head before being pulled away by Lavender. 

                He noticed it and decided to take matters into his own hands. He leaned forward slowly and this time when their lips met they both had their nerves under control. Testing waters they had never experienced, she received his tongue with closed eyes, concentrating solely the deepening kiss. With courage he caressed her russet locks while his other hand went to her waist to pull her closer to him. Eventually they had to break away in order to breathe, but he had really enjoyed kissing her. It just made everything feel so right. She was blushing furiously and could hardly look at him she was smiling so much.

                "So does this change everything?" she asked him, meaning about them being 'just friends'.

                "I guess so," was all he could breathe in response.

                He guessed so? What kind of answer was that? Did he not _want_ to have a girlfriend? She was confused. She didn't want to ruin their friendship because she was throwing herself at him or even asking him if they were something. She didn't know what she should say. She obviously didn't think much before she blurted out, "If you don't want to be more than friends, that's fine. I understand if there's someone you fancy…"

                "I fancy you," he said before he could stop himself. "I mean-If you want to be more than friends, then that's great, but if you don't I understand," he tried to cover for himself and it hadn't worked because she was already kissing him again.

On the 28th of December, Seamus Finnigan found Harry coming down the stairs into the common room and approached him. "Hey, Harry—"

                "Oh, hey Seamus." He noticed something was wrong. "Is everything all right?"

                He shook his head. "I'm real sorry to say this, Harry, but I just saw your girlfriend snogging Malfoy—"

                "That's not funny Seamus!" Harry didn't believe him.

                "It's true, Harry. I wouldn't lie to you about it. I thought you should know. If you don't believe me, ask anyone. I heard she's even slept with that blighter."

                "I've heard that too," Dean piped in, "they're all calling her the 'sexy Slytherin slag'. But you know, I wouldn't worry too much about it, Harry."

                "That's because she's not your girlfriend," Harry responded, his voice laced with cynicism. He'd heard enough from Ginny and Ron about how Laura was using him or that she was evil. He wasn't stupid. He'd heard rumours about her since they started dating, but it didn't really hit home until Seamus and Dean told him. It was getting embarrassing. He'd have to talk to her.

                Later that day, he met up with her and when he was about to bring up what was troubling him, an owl flew into the study room they sat in. It was an owl for Laura.

                "Who's it from?" he asked.

                Laura looked up from the letter looking glum as she said, "My father." She finished reading the letter and crumpled it in her hand.

                "What's wrong?"                

                "I don't want to talk about it right now," she replied honestly. It was better than lying. She didn't want to lie to him anymore.

                Concern filled his expression, but it didn't cause him to forget what she had done. It might not be the best time to confront her about cheating on him, but it would never be a good time. He blurted out, "Seamus told me he saw you kissing Malfoy today. Is this true?"

                Shock and resignation rushed into her veins. She couldn't move.

                "It wasn't just him," he was saying, "others saw you two…you two in the common room of Slytherin…" he swallowed, "you and Malfoy. Are the rumours true?"

                Tears welled in her eyes, but she refused to shed them. She tore her gaze away from him and stood up, crossing her arms under her breasts. "Yes," she exhaled.

                He couldn't believe this. She wasn't his first girlfriend of course. He'd dated Cho last year and they broke up when she graduated, but Laura was different. With Laura he felt something different than a crush, something deeper. He felt she was the first person he'd ever fallen in love with and she had cheated on him!

                "It's not what you think," she truthfully sighed. "I'm not the slag people are saying I am. You have no idea what it's like to be in Slytherin…especially for the new students. I'm harassed constantly everyday because I'm different. It's not about ethnicity or anything… and you know it's not about me being mudblood since I am a pureblood. It's about transferring from Beauxbaton… The girls all believe that they're better than me because they started at Hogwarts right away and can do magic. You know I'm inept to do the simplest of spells and they all relish a good laugh at me for that."

                "My father sent me a lovely note about how disappointed he is with me for failing Transfiguration this term. I know the others will find out about it and use that against me as well," she told him. "You know what they've done to me?"

                He shook his head.

                "They've stolen my books and ripped out pages! They stole various things I brought with me from home like my mother's necklace I only took off once when I went to shower! They've broken my compact mirror and put colouring in my soap so my skin was dyed purple and it took days to scrub it all off! The only way to put a stop to their torments was to make a deal with Malfoy!" She broke off for a second letting it all fall in place for Harry.

                "What do you mean?" he questioned her.

                "You know what I mean," she insisted.

                "That's horrible, Laura! There must be some other way-Talk to Snape, he's head of your house, there must be something he could do to—"

                She was shaking her head. "No, no. There was nothing else I could do. Malfoy explained it all to me and it was too true…him being a Prefect. What other choice did I have? Go home? That'd be a great story to tell my father. 'Sorry, Dad, I couldn't take the girls teasing me, so I had to come home and cry about it.' You know what he would do? He'd—" She inhaled sharply. "He'd probably beat me senseless and ship me off to some psychiatric ward for muggles!"

                Harry swallowed. He didn't know whether to believe her or not. She'd been cheating on him with Malfoy… He shook his head. He cared for her so much and even though she'd lied before, it had been for good reason. He thought it through carefully before brushing the long black hair away from her eyes. "I'm sorry."

                "Don't feel sorry for me. I'm the one who owes you the apology. Before I met you I gave myself to Malfoy as insurance for protection against those girls and yet they still gossip about me…" She shook her head. "It's gotten better-they don't steal or damage any of my belongings, but I can't help but feel my sacrifice wasn't worth it. I should have waited until I met-someone I really cared for." Her eyes met his.

                "Do you really mean that?" Harry asked her carefully.

                "I do," she answered, her breath uneven.

                He kissed her then, wishing she never had to go through such pain; such a pitiful existence. He wished there was something he could do to make it all go away. Something to help her…

                It was at this moment, she could have her way with Harry Potter. She could have requested the one thing that was on her mind- the one thing she was delegated to get him to do, but she couldn't go through with it. She couldn't ask him to do it.

                Things were starting to heat up and Harry was beginning to unbutton her blouse when she stopped him. "I'm sorry," he automatically responded.

                "No Harry, I want to, I really do, but I don't deserve you." Her breathing was rapid and inconsistent. "You deserve better than me." She was near to tears. 

                Either really knew how to play a lad or she was really in love with him. He couldn't tell, but at that moment he hadn't been thinking with his heart or his head. His breathing was coming out in gasps as he desperately got a hold of himself.

                "Just hold me," she requested innocently.

                He put his arms around her, pulling her to his chest and she closed her eyes, resting in his warm, fully clad, embrace.


	17. New Years Revelations

On his way to lunch on New Years day, Ron passed the library and glanced inside casually. With righteous anger, he saw an image which would be burned into his memory eternally. Draco Malfoy's hands were all over his sister and he was snogging her! 

                Thoughts of Hermione flooded into his head. All of the tormenting evil that Hermione had to deal with, all of her sleepless nights caused by Malfoy's harassment rushed into his mind. Ron hadn't been there when Malfoy was harassing Hermione, but he'd sure as hell be able to save his sister!

                Ron stormed into the library, caught Malfoy by the arm, breaking their snog and hurled a punch at his face. Ginny looked horrified instead of thankful. "Don't you ever sodding lay your bloody hands on my sister!"

                Ginny yelled, "RON!" while Malfoy stalked off without making a callous remark or slugging Ron back. She pushed Ron with all her strength and sprinted after Malfoy.

                His sister and Malfoy were together? Ron didn't know how much more of this he could take. Slytherin spies were trying to take Gryffindor over from the inside. First Harry- and now Ginny! All of Gryffindor would be infested with Slytherins!

                He wanted to express his rage and then figure out what he could do about it, but his own best friend was dating one of them. He couldn't tell Hermione about Ginny and Draco because he didn't want her to be more upset about Draco than she already was and Harry…well Harry was already with a Slytherin, so what did he care? Soon, the whole bloody school would be taken over by Slytherins and there was nothing he could do about it!

The day before the second term began; Harry sought out Malfoy without Laura's knowledge. Harry decided to confront Malfoy about his misuse of Laura. He walked down the changing staircases towards Slytherin Tower and surprisingly spotted Ginny exiting one of the smaller rooms near the portrait hole. Harry had heard about her fancying Malfoy and his suspicion present in his question. "Is Malfoy in there?" he questioned rationally.

                "Yes," she answered, sounding rather perturbed.

                She continued up the staircase Harry had just used while he entered the room finding Malfoy sitting regally at a small desk.

                "So you've blackmailed my girlfriend into giving you favours in exchange for her protection from other Slytherins?!" he demanded.

                Malfoy chuckled. "You can't believe that, Potter. Can't you see she really wants it?-wants me?"

                "Take that back!" Harry raised a fist instead of pulling out his wand as any wizard would naturally do.

                Malfoy laughed. "Weasel's already beat you to the punch so to speak." He gestured to the bruises Ron had given him just a few says prior. 

                Harry withdrew his fist and glared at him.

                "Do you really think that a pure-blood witch like Marwood would fancy a mudblood like you? She's putting you on!"

                "I don't see what proof you have of that, Malfoy!"

                "Come off it! All the females in Slytherin would do anything for my attention, so it took no persuasion to get them to not only believe Marwood was adopted and a muggle, but also harass her- a Slytherin's specialty!"

                Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. 

                "How _did_ you meet her again? Oh yes, I remember now…we placed her near your last hour class."  

                Harry's anger with Malfoy turned into despair quicker than any transfiguration spell of McGonagall's. How could he be so thick? Even the way he'd met her was such a set-up. The Slytherins were bound to know he'd help someone in need. She had been right outside of his class. He remembered what Ron had said before _"Very convenient of you, eh? Just happened to be there… Something's not right about her."_

A/N: Is Ginny being played as well?  
ps- to cheat, remember from what point of view most of the action takes place…. Bwhahaha!


	18. What You've Always Wanted

When Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower, the common room was deserted except for the lone figure of Ginny, who happened to be studying for a quiz. When she saw the distraught form of Harry enter through the portrait hole, she had to approach him. "Harry…" It was obvious he didn't want to talk to her, but she pressed further. "Are you all right?"

                She needn't be jealous anymore, he thought to himself. He didn't really have a girlfriend after all. He sighed, feeling as though his whole body was worn out. "I've been played like a chess piece this whole time, Ginny." He didn't know what else to say. He wasn't thinking about how he had seen her walking out of the room Malfoy had been in or that she might have spent time with him. He didn't care about that. At that moment, he could only think about how Laura had been using him so Slytherin would win the Quidditch Cup and most likely, House Cup as well.

                She put a hand on his shoulder in a comforting, friendly way saying, "I'm sorry Harry." She wanted to tell him…but it wasn't her place. She couldn't divulge private information without permission.

                Her hand was on his shoulder. He thought bitterly to himself how much Ginny wanted him. Now was her chance, right? Move right on in. No one to stop her or stand in the way… He figured he'd just get it over with and promptly kissed her directly on the lips.

                Shocked, Ginny didn't move for a few seconds. Once she realized what was going on, she used her hands, which had previously been resting lightly on his shoulders to pull away. "What was that for?!" she grimly questioned him. 

                 "Isn't that what you wanted?-what you've always wanted?!" Harry demanded sullenly.

                If it had been a year ago…before going out with Cho…or even _while_ he was dating Cho… If she still resented every girl Harry laid eyes on… She wouldn't have stopped him. She had dreamed of this moment since the first time she met him, but it just wasn't like her dreams. The feelings she had for him were not like that anymore. If this is what he wanted, he was too late. "Not anymore."

                Harry was shocked at this blow to his own ego. She hadn't wanted him to kiss her? Well, good…fine… He didn't fancy her either. He was just disappointed that _she_ didn't fancy _him_.

                She knew he didn't fancy her; he was just acting on strong emotions. "What's wrong? Please- tell me."

               He closed his eyes and slowly opened them. "Laura never fancied me… She was ordered to do all this by Malfoy. I don't know why. He told me how Laura really wants him because he's a pure-blood like her…" He nearly choked on the words.

                "Well, I don't know her well enough to say whether or not she does, but I've seen the way she's acted around Draco…" she told him carefully, "I know that it's different than they way she acts around you…almost as if she's two totally different people." 

                She wasn't helping.

                Ginny continued, "Mind you, egos have a way with making people think things are a certain way when in reality they aren't…"

                She didn't know just how right she was.


	19. The Truth

Laura was wondering why Harry had been avoiding her. She reckoned he had spoken with Malfoy. She hated this. She hated not speaking to one another. At least school wasn't in session or else they'd have to pass each other in the hall more frequently than just at meal times. But it was the day before classes started for spring term and they still hadn't talked about whatever he and Malfoy had discussed. They'd have to eventually, so she broke the silence after lunch. "Erm- Harry?" she asked, approaching him.

He turned around to see the slim figure of his girlfriend. It hurt him to look at her. Everyone at the Gryffindor table got up to leave, glancing at the pair knowingly. He tried his best to ignore them. He still fancied her and also hated the fact they weren't talking. He had to remind himself the reason why. "Yeah?"

"Would you mind helping me with my Charms homework? I kind of forgot about it and it's due tomorrow." She looked the absolute depiction of innocence with her large, dark eyes and fastidiously parted hair.

"You actually expect me to offer you help after all of this?" Harry warily eyed her.

She knew he had spoken with Malfoy, but she wasn't sure what he had been told. Knowing Malfoy…she was sure he had exaggerated…him and his inflated ego… She bit her bottom lip. They stared at each other for a moment, trying frantically to read each other's thoughts. "Can we just go somewhere to talk?" She prayed he'd allow at least that.

"I guess."

As they left the Great Hall for a more private area, she wished he'd put his arms around her or hold her hand. He wanted to put an arm around her shoulders. He wanted to be kissing her again as if nothing had changed.

Once they were alone, he implored, "Has this been a scam from the start?!"

In a resolved voice she told him, "NO! Er-yes, it was all Malfoy's idea—" 

He interrupted her, "And the girls tormenting you, that was all lies as well?!"

"Not entirely!" she defended herself.

"Can you do magic as well?!" He stared her down.

"Not well!" she exclaimed. She pulled out her wand. "I did get another wand though…"

Harry aggravatingly ran his hands through his messy hair. 

She took a breath before finishing her previous thought, "He wanted me to distract you from playing Quidditch well so Slytherin would win the House Cup! I hadn't any choice."

"You could have said 'No'!" He was nearly yelling at her now.

"I couldn't! And you know I couldn't!" she spat back. He wasn't saying anything so she continued, "Well it didn't work anyway! You play just as well as any other time, right?" 

He chuckled indignantly she hadn't a clue how he had faltered in the Hufflepuff game because she had only seen him play this year. 

"You've won all your games, haven't you?" She wondered why he had laughed cynically.

"Yes."

"So his plan failed! But it failed because I-" she started. 

"Because you what?" Harry demanded. 

She rapidly spat it out, "I was supposed to be Malfoy's puppet; another girl from him to use for his own purposes and be thrown away when he was finished with me, but I couldn't go through with diverting your attention from Quidditch or anything else for that matter." She took a breath. "I failed because I fell in love with you."

Harry didn't know what to make of all this. Her telling him she loved him was supposed to be special. It was supposed to be perfect. Malfoy was responsible for everything. He had hurt Harry on such a personal level, it was insane. Malfoy had single-handedly ruined everything.

A single tear escaped her eyelid. He had witnessed her cry in front of him more than once, but this was different. 

She felt guilty, depressed, and angry all at once. 

He felt the same way, but wasn't able to say anything.

His silence caused her to feel even more upset. Why wasn't he saying anything?

Eventually, he pulled her into a one-armed hug. As her head fell perfectly under his shoulder-blade, her arms folded around his neck and she sighed contently. Nothing had felt so right in her life. He didn't need to say anything, though she wanted to hear him tell her those words. She couldn't believe she'd had the courage to tell him; it had just spilled out of her. At least they were back on speaking terms. She smiled impishly.

That night—the evening before classes started—the worst night to lose sleep on, Hermione was not able to sleep no matter how hard she tried. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw visions of Malfoy's steely eyes glaring through her. His husky voice was whispering her name telling her "Soon…soon…" 

Hermione shot up in her bed, her heart beating widely. She was thankful to be alive, in her own bed, and not with Malfoy, but she wasn't glad when she realized the time. It was almost three in the morning the night before school started again and she hadn't gotten more than four hours of sleep the whole night. She exhaled exasperatedly and fell back onto the bed.

Sharp rapping on the door disrupted Ron's sleep. Groaning, he put a pillow over his head trying to block out the sound. "Go away. Go away. Go away." He mumbled to himself. The rapping stopped for a moment and he started to fall back asleep. 

The rapping started again.

"Ugh…" Ron slammed the pillow down and went to the door. "What do you want?" he asked in an irritated voice.

"Ron?" a soft female voice asked in response.

When he opened the door, he gasped, "Hermione!" She looked so frightfully pale and exhausted. She stumbled slightly and his arms were there to keep her from falling over. 

Not thinking straight, she mumbled disjointedly, "I can't sleep— He's in my head— He's saying these awful things, trying to get me to do awful things. I-I just don't want to see the-" 

"Who, Hermione? Who's in your head? I don't understand." 

She blinked, slowly looking up at him as she said, "Malfoy. It's horrible, Ron! It's like he's sending me his dirty thoughts…"

"How long has this been going on?" he enquired.

"Since that Friday in the study room when he almost…" she spat the words out, "almost raped me." 

"God, Hermione!" he exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell us?" He pulled her tightly to him.

Hermione opened her mouth to answer him, but stopped herself. She was already embarrassed at coming over so late that telling him everything would be too much. At the same time, she was so tired she didn't care anymore. She felt as though it was her fault on some level and perhaps she deserved the torture from Malfoy, but she knew logically she wasn't to blame. With Ron's reassuring arms around her, her strength returned to her and she released all the emotions she had kept hidden for so long.

She took a breath, looking him in the eyes, "Oh, Ron!" His heart leapt at her saying his name like he was her knight in shining armour. She clasped her hands around his neck and buried her face in his shirt, crying from exhaustion and helplessness. 

That prat! making her cry like this! He wanted to kill Malfoy. His knees gave way and they soon found themselves on the floor, not more than a few steps from the doorway. He whispered comforting words to her, but they were lost in the tangles of her hair. 

After her tears were spent, the lethargy overtook her and she rested her head on his chest. The weight of her body caused him to lay backward and eventually he was lying on the floor with Hermione next to him; her arms encircling his waist. She was fast asleep and he dared not move for fear she'd wake and leave.


	20. Curses

The very next day after classes, the three best friends sat in Ron's room discussing how Hermione had been Malfoy's victim. She told them everything about what Malfoy had tried to do to her in the study room at the beginning of the year. She told them the real reason why she had been having trouble sleeping.

"Did you try to find a counter-curse?" Harry asked.

"Of course I did, but the day I was in the library looking counter-curses up, he was there, watching me. I-, well I didn't want anyone to know about it. I was embarrassed." Hermione bowed her head slightly. Ron's hand went to her shoulder blades, giving her a comforting pat. She looked up at him. "I can't prove anything. He's not going to get in trouble for this. It's not fair."

"We believe you, right Harry?" Ron glanced over at his friend.

"You're not the only one to suffer from Malfoy's cruel actions," Harry informed them. "He's been using Laura, telling her if she does _things_ for him he'll protect her from the other Slytherins." He explained about the cruel girls and the gossiping.

"What sort of things does he make her do?" Ron asked like a complete idiot. Hermione and Harry glared at him seeing as how he should know better. "Oh…"

"I hate him," Hermione breathed. "I wish I knew how to undo the curse. I don't want every unconscious minute to be of Malfoy any longer. I don't want to think of anyone at all! I just want some sleep!"

"Not anyone at all?" Ron asked. She playfully poked him in the ribs. "Ow! Joking…"

Harry interjected, "We have to figure out exactly what curse he put on you in order to counter it. Describe exactly what you see when you dream."

Hermione uncomfortably told them as much as she could remember. 

"Didn't we cover something like that in Defence Against the Dark Arts a few weeks ago?" Ron wondered.

Hermione shrugged. She had been so exhausted she hadn't exactly paid much attention in class.

"Your right, Ron! This sounds like one of those curses that you can't tell anyone about…but she's told us and identified it as a curse!"

"What do you mean, Harry?" Hermione perked up at the hopeful tone in his voice.

"That means that you've already counter-cursed it by telling us," he said brightly. 

"Wicked!" Ron grinned.

"Finally I can sleep peacefully," Hermione sighed.

Ron was so happy about the news that he didn't realize that meant she wouldn't need to come over to his room in the middle of the night to get sleep, but Hermione thought of it. 

Harry was pleased with the revelation. At the same time, he was angry that Malfoy was able to get away with it. After awhile, he excused himself from his best friends.

When Harry left, Ron and Hermione made themselves more comfortable on the Gryffindor common room's couch. Ron reclined on the couch allowing Hermione to lay back on top of him with her head fitting perfectly on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and she smiled. Hermione thought aloud, "I wonder…"

Turning his head to the left, he could bury his nose in her hair. "What?" 

His breath on the side of her neck made her shiver. "I wonder why I was able to actually sleep when I was with you. That's what I wonder… It doesn't make sense… If I was under a curse and it was only broken today, how then was I able to avoid the curse when I was with you?"

"I dunno," he told her honestly. That did seem rather strange, but he was flattered.

After classes a week later, Ron spilt from Harry to return to Gryffindor Tower when Harry went to meet up with Laura when he saw Crabbe and Goyle enter a study room that Ginny and Malfoy appeared to have been studying in. Ginny got up to leave as the dull-witted crew walked in. Ron paused a moment at the entryway without being noticed, merely observing. Ginny passed through the two Slytherins with Janet at her side. Crabbe and Goyle sat across from Malfoy and poked fun at a harmless-looking Ravenclaw first-year boy. Eventually, they responded to the activities of fourth-year Slytherin lads who decided throwing wads of parchment at the Ravenclaw boy wasn't enough and stalked over to him. Surprisingly, there weren't any other Ravenclaws in that particular study room and the Hufflepuffs weren't about to jump in and defend the tormented Ravenclaw boy. The mean-spirited Slytherins spilled his ink all over his homework 'accidentally' and smacked the quill out of his hand 'playfully' as they chuckled when he didn't make a move against them.

Malfoy sat alone at his table observing the immature displays of harassment, but made no move to join in or leave the room. Ron was intrigued that Malfoy hadn't budged, but then to startle Ron the most, Malfoy stood and approach the younger Slytherins. "Enough. Go back to your studies or leave." They obeyed him quickly, but not without whispering.

Ron missed the intent look Malfoy gave the first-year as he whispered, "Sorry about them. Don't let 'em get to ya," but he saw the new parchment Malfoy gave him and how he picked up the quill from the floor and returned it to the Ravenclaw student. Ron wondered what Malfoy was up to.

Anonymously, Ron continued walking down the hallway, drawing the conclusion that the Ravenclaw student was either rich and paid Malfoy off or that the retuned quill would spontaneously combust. He caught up to Ginny and demanded what she had been doing with Malfoy.

"Studying! He was helping me with Defence Against the Dark Arts like Harry promised me weeks ago! I was sick of waiting around in vain for Harry to remember and I have a test coming up!" Ginny responded full of emotion.

Ron glared at her, but didn't know what else to say besides, "With Malfoy?!"

Ginny frowned and pulled Janet by the sleeve saying, "Let's go." They walked quickly away from Ron; Janet apologetically glancing over her shoulder at Ron who waved his hand dismissively.

Ron stopped following them and stood in the hallway, grumbling curses as he scuffed his shoe on the ground. At least she hadn't been alone…Ginny's Hufflepuff friend had been with her… 

Everything seemed like it was back to normal through the following weeks, in a good way. Hermione continually had her hand in the air waiting to be called on in class and Ron was happy that she was happy, though still thoroughly concerned about his little sister. Harry and Laura weren't as hot and heavy so he spent more time with Ron and Hermione. Only Ron seemed to notice how little they saw of Ginny, but when he did see her rush off, Harry and Hermione both assumed she was going to be with her Hufflepuff friends.

It wasn't until a rainy Wednesday afternoon the week of the big Quidditch game—Gryffindor versus Slytherin—that everything fell apart. Harry was setting out just before seven for Quidditch practice when he heard crying from the girls' toilet. It wasn't Moaning Myrtle's toilet, but it didn't sound like a ghost anyway. He looked around to see if anyone was looking before hesitantly opening the door. "Hermione?" he asked. 

The sniffling ceased and one of the stall doors opened. It was Laura. Her makeup was smeared and her uniform was all over the place. "Harry," she said in a diminutive voice. "What are you doing in here?"

He chuckled in an attempt to lighten the mood, but it came out as more of a cough. "Didn't you know? Ron and I are always walking in the girls' toilet. I think something's wrong with our eyesight…"

She smiled at his joke. "But really, Harry, what are you doing in here?"

"I heard crying. What's the matter?"

"It's nothing…girl stuff… I'm fine now," she told him, carefully avoiding his glance.

He didn't want to press her further, but this appeared to be more than just some 'girl thing'. He tilted his head to the right meeting her eyes in an insisting glance. She rolled up the sleeves of her robe to show him the bruises on her arms spaced evenly like someone's hands had forcefully been there. He touched them lightly with his index finger and seeing the colour of the skin change colours underneath it. "Malfoy," he said as more of a statement than a question. 

She nodded.

"When did he do this? Why?" he asked.

Before she could answer him a Ravenclaw girl entered. She saw Harry there and turned around, exiting. Both Laura and Harry giggled at this. "Maybe we should go somewhere else to talk?" he suggested. 

When they finally found a place where they were somewhat secluded, she answered him. "He tried to-to- like before…before you and I were together."

"Did you stop him? Please, tell me he didn't!" Harry's voice echoed in the deserted room even though he wasn't speaking loudly.

"He did. We did. I mean- I-" she broke off, but not in tears this time. Her look was the most desolate he had ever seen and he was frightened for her. 

"Do you want to see Madam Pomfrey? I mean- is everything OK?" he asked, concerned. 

"I'm fine," she let him know in a clear voice. "I'll get over it."

Harry's concern for her turned quickly into anger. "I'll kill 'em!"

Laura's eyes perked up at this exclamation.

He made a move to leave, but she stopped him questioning, "What are you going to do?" 

"I'll kill 'em!" he repeated in the same solid tone. 

She blocked the doorway with her smaller figure. "No! No, think about it. Think about what you're doing, Harry!" Her hands rested on his shoulders as the anger filled him. Her hands went to his face in a loving manner, caressing his features. "He's a stupid git. I've gotten past it. I'll just let him-"

"You can't keep letting him treat you like shit, Laura! Someone's got to put an end to this!" He pushed past her as she called out his name, but he couldn't hear her because the rage inside of him burned in his ears. 

He wasn't stupid and he knew the rage would subside eventually, so he went back to Gryffindor Tower. He went to Ron's room and banged on the door. "Ron!" 

Ron opened the door, surprised to see Harry there, but more surprised at the look on Harry's face. "What happened?"

"Is Hermione here? She should hear this too."

She wasn't there, so they went to library and brought her back to Ron's room so they could have privacy. For a moment, Ron and Hermione sat there staring at Harry, waiting for him to speak. He sat in a chair, his elbows on his knees, rubbing his hands together. He dropped his head, let out a deep breath, and then looked back at them. "It's over," he exhaled.

Ron looked at Hermione and she looked just as clueless as he felt. "What do you mean Harry?"

"Malfoy," was all he could say in response.

"He did something to Laura?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded. "Found her crying in the girls' toilet. She had bruises all over her arms."

"And I thought he had finished with her," Hermione responded, "seeing as how he's moved on to Ginny." She bit her tongue as soon as the words left her lips.

Ron groaned. "Please do NOT mention my sister's name and Malfoy being _on_ someone in the same sentence."

Hermione flinched. "Sorry."

Normally, Harry would have laughed at that, but he wasn't in the mood for jokes. "He deserves to pay for everything he's done to us- to you, Hermione, to Laura, and to Ginny."

"What do you mean what he's done to me?" Ginny demanded, peering in from Ron's unlocked and slightly open door.

The three friends looked over at her when she entered, completely silent.

"Well, Malfoy's obviously put a curse on you or something because you fancy him now!" Harry broke the silence.

"I can't believe you Harry!" She thrust her hands forward, gesturing wildly. "You're even dating a Slytherin! How can you condemn me for spending time with Draco?"

"Don't tell me you actually _want_ to spend time with rubbish like him," Ron interjected.

"So all that talk about Laura being evil and being responsible for Harry's Quidditch performance- you take that back?" Hermione added rhetorically. "Need I remind you what he did to me?!"

"What? You think that the 'real' Ginny is locked up in your closet and I'm just some random Slytherin using polyjuice?" Ginny suggested sarcastically. She was appalled when Ron actually got up to check his closet. Her face reddened. "Gryffindors should accept people and be forgiving not assume the worst in others!"

"I forbid you to see him!" Ron decreed.

"Or what? You'll tell on me?" she asked in a sing-song voice. "Grow up Ronald!" And with that, she exited, slamming his door behind her.

All three friends were angry at this. For Harry, it was the final straw. How could anyone be so manipulative and evil? His best friend and his girlfriend had been Malfoy's victims for long enough. Now Ginny too was a pawn for his deception. Somehow, someway, Draco Malfoy would pay for this…He was going to pay for the harm he caused so many people.

A/N: Stay tuned for Gryffindor versus Slytherin and a cameo by Oliver Wood!  
PS: some people have mentioned certain 'grammar' mistakes…Sometimes it depends on British English vs. American English. For example: being 'in' a team versus being 'on' a team. Just keep those differences in mind you have a mind to search for grammar errors.


	21. Gryffindor versus Slytherin

That Saturday was the big game: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Oliver Wood, who was now in a professional team along with his best friend, Andrew Kearson, attended the game with his fiancée. His fiancée happened to be Christina Kearson, Andrew's younger sister.

Oliver approached Harry before he changed into his uniform with a beautiful brunette on his arm. 

"Oliver?!" Harry raced over to him.

"Hey Harry! Good luck today!" he beamed. 

"Thanks." Harry eyed the brunette.

Oliver followed his glance. "Oh this is my fiancée, Christina."

"Nice to meet you," he said swiftly, shaking her hand. 

"Nice to finally meet the famous Harry Potter," she smiled. "Good luck today."

"Thanks," Harry said shyly.

Ron rushed over to the small group. "Good luck, Harry," Ron wished him luck hurriedly. 

Before going to change into his Quidditch uniform, he asked, "Oh, hey. Would you mind letting me copy your Arithmancy homework? I've forgotten it was due tomorrow."

Ron nodded. "Sure…anything for the bloke who'll win us House Cup again." Ron halfway muttered the last bit to himself. He still retained a little bitterness about not being in the team despite himself.

"Thanks, Ron," he replied swiftly before rushing to change and then meet up with his team-mates.

Nearly the entire school was in attendance. Everything depended on this game. The standings were Gryffindor undefeated and Slytherin beat Ravenclaw in their last game, so even though they lost to Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw had defeated Hufflepuff, so it all came down to this game. 

Harry had practiced the most he had all year before the game against Slytherin. Slytherin kept scoring points like mad as soon as the game started and Harry knew it would be up to him. He wanted to see Malfoy lose terribly.

Instead of hateful gibes normally spat out by Malfoy, the swish of zooming brooms accompanied the unnerving quiet, infuriating Harry all the more. Once the snitch was spotted, they raced for the golden ball. A few times, Harry lost sight of it and had to follow Malfoy because his thoughts were elsewhere. His hatred for Malfoy for all the suffering he had caused Harry's closest friends and his girlfriend was in the forefront of his thoughts. It was no longer about catching the snitch first; it was about getting even with Malfoy. He slammed his broom into Malfoy's causing him to crash into the stands. Luckily no one caught that it was Harry's fault. He laughed at the fallen Slytherin in a voice different from his own- it was full of spitefulness.

"Did ya see that, Hermione?" Ron laughed at Malfoy's crash. "He had that coming!"

Hermione pulled on Ron's arm so she could see over the barrier to where Malfoy had fallen.

Ron turned his head at the tug on his arm. He was tall enough to see with ease. "Get on my back. You have to see this!"

Without even thinking twice, she hopped on piggyback-style and laughed into his hair at the sight of Malfoy's fall. But Malfoy was up on his broom zooming after Harry at lightening speed before anyone else noticed he had been out of the game. 

Even though Malfoy had already flown back into the game, Hermione decided having her arms wrapped around Ron made Quidditch even more enjoyable to watch.

Harry and Malfoy were racing for the snitch once again and Harry yet again slammed into Malfoy, playing most unsportingly like most Slytherins did. 

"What does Harry think he's doing?" Ginny was outraged. "He's playing dirty!"

"He's playing like any Slytherin would—" Seamus said with disgust, directing his comment mostly to Ginny.

Draco was angry that Potter was actually performing better than the game versus Hufflepuff. He wanted the snitch. He wanted to win. He wanted Slytherin to win House Cup. Forcing his broom to move the fastest it was capable of, he shot past Potter at lightning speed. 

This was Harry's chance. He got up behind Malfoy's broom, floating slightly above him and steered his broom as fast and powerfully as he could, downwards…right on the back of Malfoy's broom causing to him fly upwards and spin around. Malfoy lost control of his broom and fell kilometres to the ground. 

Penalties were given to Harry for doing it, but it paid off. He captured the snitch and the game was over.

"BOOOOOO!" the Slytherin stand roared.

Draco wasn't hurt badly; just had the wind knocked out of him. The blow to his ego was far worse when he realized Potter had caught the snitch. Gryffindor wasn't supposed to win!

Without even bothering to change from his Slytherin Quidditch uniform, Draco waited for Marwood to return to Slytherin Tower that night. He knew from the previous Gryffindor game that she wouldn't hang around Harry too long since he would be celebrating with his team-mates. It didn't take too long. 

Marwood's lone figure sashayed down the corridor towards Slytherin Tower when Draco pounced. He grabbed her and forcefully shoved her into an empty study room. "YOU STUPID BINT!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

She landed hard on the floor, shocked at being ambushed, and suddenly afraid of Malfoy. She looked up to see the rage in his eyes and cowered from him, pulling herself up by holding onto a chair. 

"It's entirely your fault we lost today!" he raged. "You fell in love with him, DIDN'T YOU?!"

In response, she could only whimper, backing away from him as he pulled out his wand. Regaining his composure, his voice softened in bitter sweetness. "You're barking mad, you know." He tauntingly flicked his wand around. "You think anyone would truly fancy a bloody tart like you?"

Neither of them noticed a certain red-headed Gryffindor was watching the scene from a desk in the far corner of the room.

"I'll see you out of Hogwarts for this, mark my words!" Draco was a Prefect and he would find a way somehow. Losing them the Quidditch Cup and most likely the House Cup as well, she deserved punishment.

All of Laura's feelings mixed inside of her. Her caring for Harry was permeated by her hatred for Malfoy's mistreatment of her and his father… "You think you're so smart Malfoy…but you're wrong about me." Her courage soon returned with the thought of Harry. "You're wrong about Harry! And you hate him because you fear him!" She clicked her teeth. "You posh git… You'll never understand what love is!"

She summoned something from within herself that caused her body to glow a peculiar orange colour. The ginger aura pulsated around her as Malfoy stood entranced. 

Ginny blinked, not able for a moment to believe the sight before her. Was she going to destroy Draco? But how? Ginny had heard that Marwood had no magical capabilities. What was going on?

Harry entered to see Malfoy with his wand raised and his girlfriend glowing orange. Malfoy had put some kind of spell on Laura! "Stop it Malfoy!" 

But Draco was unable to move.

"Leave her ALONE!" Harry whipped out his wand, and aimed it at Malfoy roaring, "AVADA KEDAV—!"

As he shouted, Ginny caught him off-guard as she ran over to stop him. "NOOOOOO!" Ginny yelled, rushing over to protect Draco. 

Harry's head turned and he was so shocked to see her there that he didn't finish the curse. 

At the same time, yellow sparks flashed from Harry's wand, knocking Malfoy and Ginny to the ground as Laura flew backwards, also landing on the ground.

A/N: I had the worst time figuring out how to end this fic!  
And I'm still debating…


	22. Flashback Exteme Dating

_Ginny was amazed when she got her Defence Against the Dark Arts paper back. She scored the second-highest mark in the entire class and she owed it all to Draco Malfoy. She thought she really ought to thank him again for helping her, but she procrastinated until the school was on holiday. _

_                Two days before Christmas Eve, she approached him after lunch. "Thank you for your help on my essay. I scored second-highest in the class thanks to you."_

_                "Congratulations, sugar," Draco drawled._

_                Ginny smiled. "I owe you for helping me though."_

_                "Don't fret about it," Draco dismissed._

_                "But I ought to do something for you," Ginny insisted._

_                He cleared his throat and put on a more regal tone of voice. "I'd be obliged if you accompanied me to the annual Holiday Festival in Hogsmeade tomorrow night," Draco invited her gallantly._

_                Her eyes widened like the first time she saw Harry Potter. Was Draco Malfoy asking a Weasley out on a date? Wasn't she too poor for him? Wasn't her family made up of muggle sympathizers that weren't worthy of a second glance from a Malfoy? "What are you playing at?"_

_                Draco frowned. "I don't want to go alone and Crabbe and Goyle have gone home for the holidays. Besides, you said you owed me."_

_                He had a point. "Fine." _

_Ginny Weasley couldn't believe how much fun she was having hanging out with Draco Malfoy the day before Christmas Eve. Since it they were on holiday, neither of them wore their school robes while walking around Hogsmeade. She had never seen Draco wearing muggle clothing before and she thought he looked rather dashing out of uniform. Since the distinction between Slytherin House and Gryffindor House wasn't visible when they were in muggle clothing, no one was staring at the pair or whispering things about them. They were able to spend time together casually without entertaining thoughts of their differences. _

_                Even though it was late December, the festival grounds were enchanted to be warm like early June. There was even a fireworks display and carnival-like rides. Snow was falling around them, but the weather was pleasant as they rode the Ferris wheel. Afterwards they bought some toffees and other sweets. Draco bought her a large bag of assorted flavoured toffees and they sat on a wicker bench watching the fireworks and snow falling together in a symphony of colour and light._

_                "So why are you mucking about with a baddie like me?" he asked her softly as he snaked an arm around her shoulders.  _

_                She tensed under his arm when he said this. It wasn't until then that she was reminded he wasn't a Gryffindor. "Hadn't really thought about it…" she replied. "I owed you for the paper and you said you wanted to come here." _

_                "Only way to get you to go out with me," he confessed slyly.  _

_                "So helping me on my essay was just a ploy to get me to go out with you?" She was abashed._

_                "If that's not so horrible, yes," he admitted. He couldn't seem to be able to lie to her and couldn't stop himself from telling her everything. "I thought you'd be easier to get at than Granger and Potter would be so preoccupied with you and Marwood he'd lose to Slytherin in February." Why was he telling her this? It just kept pouring out of him…his 'diabolical' plan to win the Quidditch cup by bringing down Harry's closest friends. _

_                Ginny was shocked. "Use me to get at Harry? Along with Laura?" Though it was the most she had ever heard Draco say at one time, she was rightfully angry. She shrugged him off and stood up with the toffees in hand. She threw the toffees at him yelling, "Choke on it and die Malfoy!" She strode away from him, fuming. _

_                Disregarding the toffee and spilt hot cocoa, he chased after her. When he caught up to her, he grabbed her arm, but she spurned him and walked back alone. He followed her at a distance, but didn't go inside Hogwarts after her. Instead, he walked around the grounds, deep in thought. He couldn't understand why he had told her all this. It was so strange. He hadn't meant to. And they had been having such a good time. At least, he thought they had. He had forgotten for that short time about his parents and their expectations. He had forgotten about how he failed one of his classes. For once he had been genuinely happy. _

_On New Year's Day, Ginny was in the library alone. Normally, Hermione would be there as well, but oddly she wasn't. She had a few large books about Historical wizarding families trying to connect Marwood's family history to the Potters, but nothing was coming up. Giving up on the books—unlike Ron, who had just looked at a single book—Ginny started looking through old Daily Prophet articles. _

_                Curious…the names Malfoy and Marwood were found in articles together. _

_                Lucius Malfoy and Roger Marwood were extremes rivals in Slytherin. Malfoy made alliances with Crabbe, Goyle, and Narcissa Lestrange while still in school, but this inflamed the hatred of Marwood even more. Marwood's girlfriend Lucretia Firebrand was cousin to the Lestranges and she felt it was a personal betrayal that Narcissa had formed an alliance with Malfoy. Firebrand had formed her own blood oath alliances with the Macnairs and the Lestranges were family, so when she joined with Marwood, the alliances grew stronger. After Hogwarts, all of them became Death Eaters under Lord Voldemort, but Narcissa and Lucretia refused though they ended up marrying Death Eaters. _

_                The next article Ginny read with Marwood and Malfoy's names was a death notice. Lucius Malfoy was suspected of killing Lucretia Firebrand-Marwood two years after the birth of their daughter Lauriana Marwood. Roger Marwood sought revenge against Lucius Malfoy, but Lucius was under Voldemort's protection and had disappeared. _

_                Ginny was starting to understand now. Laura must have been sent to Hogwarts to finish her father's task. She wanted to get revenge on Draco for his father's crime. Laura was going to kill Draco!_

_                Draco entered the library and found her reading by herself. He hoped he'd have a chance to explain to her. When she saw him, her anger about him wanting to use her to get to Harry returned and she started to leave. Draco stopped her by catching her by the arm. If she had truly wanted to leave, she could have, but looking into his eyes, she recalled what she had read about Laura's family and wanted to hear him out. _

_                "Just give me a chance please- let me explain," he pleaded, "There's something about you… Being around you has changed me-" Looking deep into her eyes, he revealed his father's secret to her. "Being son of a Death Eater, I don't deserve second chances. Hell, I don't deserve to be even speaking to you but—" _

_                She silenced him with an innocent kiss. _

_                Elated, he wrapped his arms around her when someone spun him around and socked him in the nose. Pain shot through his face and he saw Ron Weasley standing in front of him. "Don't you ever sodding lay your bloody hands on my sister!"_

_                Draco stood up, regaining balance in his limbs as blood escaped his nose. He walked away, heading for Pomfrey's. _

_                Ginny couldn't believe her brother. He hadn't a clue. He didn't know anything about Draco. She was furious with him and pushed Ron with all her strength before sprinting after Draco to see if he was OK. When she caught up to him, his nose was bleeding freely. "Sorry about that."_

_                He made a noise that sounded more like a grunt than a sarcastic chuckle saying, "Your brother hates me."_

_                "I know," she replied, dabbing his nose with her handkerchief. "But you hate him too. He's only trying to protect me. He's brash like that, always getting into a fight with you."_

_                "Before it was just for Granger… I guess my fancying you wasn't about to make him hate me less," he smirked._

_                She smiled at him. "Better get you to the hospital wing."_

_"I don't want to make things worse, pet, but I think it's best you know everything before you decide if you still want to be my girlfriend…" Draco told her as they sat together in a small room near the Slytherin common room. He had been holding her hand, but he slipped his hand away._

_                "What? What is it?" Ginny was concerned. He wasn't saying anything for a minute. "Blimey Draco, spit it out!"_

_                He moved in his seat and exhaled. "I told you before about using you because I thought you'd be easier than Granger…well I didn't finish telling you everything. You see, at the beginning of the school year, I-" He swallowed before confessing, "Well I tried to put a spell on Granger to get her to fancy me. It wasn't just to get Potter to lose at Quidditch, but I thought she'd be a challenge to get at…"_

_                Ginny shifted uncomfortably._

_                He continued quickly, "The spell didn't work anyway…Probably because she's in love with your brother." He smirked._

_                Ginny smiled at this, but it was soon replaced by a grave expression as he finished telling her everything. _

_                "Getting someone like you- someone full of pure innocence, which I'd never be able to obtain, was the challenge that outweighed everything else." He strained to meet her eyes. He wanted to get it all out in the open. He wanted to tell someone everything and he was compelled to tell her. "Besides that, I've slept around. It was all about showing-proving I was worthy to be a Slytherin, what my father wanted of me." He swallowed again, thankful that she was still listening to him. "I even slept with Marwood…"_

_                Ginny was too horrified to move. Her thoughts were tumbling through her head in free-fall, barely able to make sense of it all. Even though horror was her first reaction, she was full of amazement as well that Draco would be telling her all this. Finally it all sunk in. "Is that all?"_

_                Draco nodded. "I think so." _

_                She breathed deeply. "Good. I don't think I could take much more honesty," she joked nervously._

_                "You know what luv?" He moved back closer to her optimistically. "I'm a complete coward. You think you've seen your brother flee from spiders? Well, I'm just as bad. Just as cowardly," he told her, adding quickly, "Only under certain circumstances, mind you."_

_                This statement caused her to smile broadly and take up his hand once again. She allowed herself to trust him since he obviously trusted her to his innermost secrets. She knew he didn't have to tell her all of this. Ron would never approve, especially after what Draco did or rather tried to do to Hermione. "Why have you told me all this, Draco?"_

_                "I don't know," he admitted, "I just feel like I can trust you and honesty will get me farther than deceit."_

_                "Farther with me?" she gleamed._

_                He smirked with a blush, "Maybe."_

_                "Well then," she regained her composure, sombrely saying, "I expect I should be honest with you then."_

_                "Go on," he replied, looking a bit worried._

_                "When I first met you I thought you were a complete arse. You were a priggish, pig-headed, narcissistic git whose only pleasure in life was causing other people pain."_

_                He nodded, accepting her comments as true._

_                "But those times this year when my brother or Harry weren't able to be there for me, you were. You stayed and ate with me long after I was left alone. You helped me with schoolwork and shown me that you care for me. I know that this might not work out with us as couple because of everything going against us, but no matter what, I want us to be allies if not friends." She squeezed his hand and let it go, standing up to leave._

_                "But you'd give us a chance though, right?" Draco's eyes looked almost childlike in their pleading._

_                She gave him a half-smile saying, "Of course." She pecked him on the cheek before smiling at him again and exiting. On her way out, she saw Harry._

_                Harry had heard about her fancying Malfoy and his suspicion of them was evident in his question. "Is Malfoy in there?" he nearly demanded._

_                "Yes," she answered frankly before departing._

*end of flashback*  
A/N: They do the good vs. evil falling in love with vampires thing all the time on Buffy, so indulge me and imagine Draco as Spike or Angel or something if it's more believable for you. ::blush:: 

And by the way, isn't it ironic that Draco helped her on a Defence Against the Dark Arts? Mwhahahaa 


	23. Now What?

After Harry's successful catch of the snitch, Ron feigned a pain in his back, moaning, "Well the games over…" to Hermione who was perched on his back.

                Hermione huffed, not wanting to relinquish her new height advantage. "Come of it! It hasn't been that long!" She felt his chuckling throughout her body and kissed him on the cheek. "Maybe I like the view from here…"

                He whined, "You're killing me…"

                "Are you saying I'm fat?" She pinched his shoulder.

                "No. I'm saying 'Ouch'," he joked. "I can't see your face."

                "And why would you want to see it?"

                "Maybe because I'm in love with it," he said seriously.

                She slid down from her comfortable position and looked at him squarely. "Just my face? Well thanks a lot Ronald!" she feigned anger.

                "But you're beautiful! I mean-" he attempted to cover his tracks, "I mean- of course that's not all-"

                She was giggling at his dread that she might actually be angry with him.

                "You've got to stop doing that to me, 'Mione." He took up her hand, swinging it casually as they went down to congratulate Harry.

                "And why should I stop?" She smiled provocatively.

                He stopped in his tracks, saying, "So I can do this." And he kissed her roughly in front of a large crowd of Quidditch fans, not caring about the catcalls.

After the game, Harry, Ron, and Hermione attended the party in the Gryffindor common room. It wasn't much later that night that Ron and Hermione both noticed that Harry had disappeared. Something wasn't right. 

                The pair chased after him down the staircases, rounded a few corners, but lost him as he stalked down the hallway to Slytherin Tower. They only lost him for a few seconds, but by the time they entered the study room, they were too late.

                Ron and Hermione entered to see Laura, Ginny, and Malfoy lying on the ground with Harry still holding his wand in the air. They looked at each other, eyes wide in the horror at the sight. Harry turned around slowly, wand still in hand. "Did I kill him?" he asked breathlessly.

                Hermione then realized she was holding onto Ron's arm tightly. She let go and rushed over to Draco, checking his pulse. "He's still alive," she informed them.

                "What happened Harry? What did you do?" Ron asked, dumbfounded.

                After checking on Malfoy, Hermione moved towards Ginny who was sprawled protectively in front of him. She groaned and sat up, rather dazed that Hermione was facing her. She didn't notice yet that Draco's form was lying on the ground behind her.

                "Are you all right, Ginny?" Hermione asked. 

                Ron was still staring at Harry, unbelieving. "What did you do?!" He couldn't even register the fact Harry had wounded his sister. 

                Harry had had hate inside him when he attempted to perform one of the Unforgivable Curses on Malfoy. The burning hatred to destroy him nearly cost the lives of Ginny and Laura. He couldn't fathom what had happened exactly. 

                He dropped his wand. 

                No words could escape his lips as he moved away from Ron towards Laura. She was unconscious but alive. His hands moved over the outline of her face carefully brushing her hair away from her eyes. What had he done? Blaming Malfoy for all that was evil; he had nearly killed two innocent people. He looked over at Ginny, who had just realized Harry almost killed Malfoy. Ginny gasped and threw her arms around Malfoy. Harry didn't understand at first. She had risked her life to save Malfoy. Why?

                From where Hermione kneeled on the ground, she looked up at Ron. The look on her face was of concern, dejection, and relief all at once. She looked mature and as wise as the accumulation of books she had read. "Ginny…" Ron fell to his knees beside Hermione, attempting to pry Ginny away from Malfoy. 

                She turned around to meet his glance. "I'm fine-just- We've got to get him to the hospital wing- We've got to save him-" she bawled.

                "Laura, wake up, please-" Harry was begging her unconscious figure.

                "You'll be all right, Draco," Ginny was crying as Hermione and Ron lifted their arch-enemy to his feet so they could carry him to see Madame Pomfrey.

                Laura's eyes blinked open and she was about to speak when Harry shushed her. "Don't speak. Let's just get you to the hospital wing." It was entirely Harry's fault and he had never felt so guilty in his life.

Ron and Hermione both knew Harry was in so much trouble for what he had done. Ron was outraged that he had nearly killed his sister, but after Harry explained what had happened, the rage subsided. At least Ginny was OK. 

                Ginny was discharged from the hospital after a healing charm or two, but Laura had to spend the night. Out of the three of them, Malfoy was injured the worst. The damage inflicted upon him was unimaginable and Madame Pomfrey assumed Harry'd receive quite the punishment for it.

                Ginny explained to Hermione and Ron about what she had read about Malfoy and Marwood's family from the old _Daily Prophet_ articles. Since Draco was incapacitated, she decided it was all right to reveal her true reasons for thrusting herself in harms way for their enemy's sake and told them about his change.

                Ron was of course sceptical and rather perturbed that his sister really fancied Malfoy, but there wasn't much he could say about it now that she had proven it.

                "I still don't get it, Ginny," Ron was saying, "If you were right there in front of Malfoy, shouldn't you have received the worst of the curse?"

                Ginny shrugged.

                Hermione gasped perceptively, "I know why, Ron!"

                Her pause unnerved him. "Go on, tell us then."

                Hermione frowned at him. "Because, silly, Harry's curse was of pure hatred… Ginny's purity of heart and sincere love for Malfoy saved her."

                Ron grimaced.

                "Well look at her for proof!" Hermione seized Ginny's arm and shoved it in Ron's face. "Her only wounds were caused by the fall to the ground not by the curse!"

                Ron didn't know what to say. His emotions were all out of kilter.

                "Love saved her," Hermione insisted, staring at him intently.


	24. Not That Innocent

Laura awoke late that night to Madame Pomfrey shooing Ginny out of the hospital wing. She thought for a moment that she heard Harry's voice as well, but she was still disoriented. Once Pomfrey walked up and down the aisles, she left and Laura slowly sat up, clutching her left arm. She looked around the room and saw Malfoy across from her lying down. Wincing, she got out of bed and firmly planted her feet on the ground before walking over to him. She thought he was just asleep, but in truth, he was still unconscious from Harry's attack.

                "Draco…" she whispered, trying to wake him up. When he didn't wake, she realized he wasn't sleeping. Harry must've nearly killed him just as her father had planned. Her father hadn't wanted the Marwood name to be responsible for a Malfoy's death unless there were no other choices, but getting Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort's arch-nemesis to do the deed was a perfect plan. Laura didn't know much about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or Death Eaters. She didn't even know that her dad and Draco's as well, were Death Eaters until she came to Hogwarts.

                When she first arrived at Hogwarts, she had been instructed by her father to get revenge on Lucius Malfoy by killing his son. He told her exactly what to do and hadn't interfered until the Owl he sent while she was studying with Harry. Somehow, he was informed of her progress and mentioned her display of affection for Harry on the Quidditch pitch. He reminded her of her task and offered more criticism about her performance. 

                She knew Lucius Malfoy was responsible for killing her mum, but it wasn't Draco's fault. He looked absolutely pitiful lying there, unconscious, and she was responsible for it. 

                The contempt her father had for the Malfoy clan rubbed off on her. If she was going to live up to her father's wishes…if he would finally be able to look at her without disdain since the death of her mother, she'd have to do it. Now was the perfect time. He was unconscious; unable to cry out or make a move against her. She put her hands to his throat…and squeezed…but she was weak. She couldn't go through with murdering someone in cold-blood. She loosened her grip in a soft exhale, remembering how her father told her before that her feelings of guilt and compassion were a weakness. And the sick feeling in her stomach at the site of what she had caused was a flaw.

                She examined his facial features meticulously as she racked her brain for what she should do now. Even though this lad was a narcissistic toff and he had done disgustingly evil things, he had changed. He didn't deserve death. She recalled having lied to Harry about Draco doing things to her before the Quidditch game against Slytherin, but that was only in hopes he'd kill Draco during the game somehow. She painfully closed her eyes and then looked back at Draco's helpless figure. There was only one thing left she could think of to do.

Sitting sideways next to him on the bed, she took his lifeless hands into hers, glancing over her shoulder quickly to make sure Pomfrey hadn't returned. Her slight figure was able to sit cross-legged, facing him. Bowing her head, she concentrated solely on healing. She began to glow again, only this time it was a mora vibrant aura that surrounded her.

                Without warning, the healing sensation altered and she found herself inside his thoughts.

                "What in blazes are you doing here, Marwood?! I must be dreaming…" Draco's unmistakeable drawl echoed.

                She couldn't tell if she was in his head or he was in hers, but something strange had happened with her healing trance. "You know what happened?"

                "I do," he said simply, "You tried to have Potter kill me."

                He was reading her thoughts. At the same time, she was able to read his and knew all about his affections for Ginny Weasley. She was shocked that the feelings were of honourable intent. That was hard to believe after how he'd acted with her.

                "Come to finish it off? Go ahead then," he egged her on.

                "I haven't," she insisted.

                Laura realized Draco hadn't a clue about his father killing her mother. As she thought this, his face registered shock. He had only known about their families being rivals. She hesitantly asked, "Do you hate me?"

                He chuckled before replying, "Not at first, but now I'm starting to have my doubts seeing as how you tried to have me killed."

                "What do you mean not at first?" She was rightfully confused.

                "Well, you can't expect I'd sleep with someone if I didn't fancy them, can you? Sure I thought it'd be challenge getting with the new girl, but-"

                _Draco's feelings for Granger had been pure lust, but Marwood… Before he knew who she was he had been attracted to her, but it wasn't the same as lust. Maybe he had some feeling for her. He knew that he could have his way with her and get her to do things for him like pretending to fancy Potter so she could distract him from Quidditch…_

                A cacophony of emotions, memories, and thoughts clashed in Draco's head as his mind merged with Laura's from her healing trance. At first which thoughts were his and which experiences were Laura's were recognizably different, but eventually all barriers were broken down and neither of them could control what thoughts the other was receiving.

                It was only once Laura found out about how Draco slept around and that he lusted after Granger did she come to the conclusion he had no real feelings for anyone, let alone her. But now, she knew all of his thoughts.

                And he knew hers.

_                Draco decided to use her, but toward a common goal of winning Slytherin the House Cup.  
                _ "I thought we'd make a great team." His own honesty surprised him.__

                _Laura decided to use Potter to kill Draco, but only after she and Draco had won House Cup.   
                _"We did. Didn't we…" she reflected solemnly.__

                "Yes…until _you_ started fancying Potter that is," his remark lacked vigour.

                "And until _you_ started fancying Weasley," she said in the same tone.


	25. Flashback Two Households

_Like most of the sixth year students, Draco wasn't much interested in the Sorting Ceremony. He was barely paying attention until he noticed one of the girls was much taller than the other first-years. From her profile, he observed her evocative countenance. Briefly wondering if she was part veela, he tore his glance away and looked around at the other tables to see if other lads were experiencing the same attraction. The Ravenclaws looked quite bored, along with most of the older Hufflepuff students. His eyes fell on Potter who was the only other person besides second or third-years that were interested in the sorting. He followed Potter's gaze to the tall girl. _

_ Draco heard about the Marwood family from his parents, but had never seen one until McGonagall called, "Marwood, Lauriana." The tallest of the first-year students approached the platform where the Sorting Hat sat. When she turned around, Draco knew for a fact that Marwood girl couldn't be less than fourteen…with curves like that. He silently cursed the fact that the girl he was attracted to was a Marwood, but was thankful at the same time that she wasn't eleven years old. _

_ The Sorting Hat seemed to have difficulties placing her at first before declaring, "Slytherin!" She made no clear facial expression as she approached the cheering Slytherin table._

_ "Lauriana," Draco experimentally rolled the name over his tongue. "Lovely name." _

_ She made eye contact with the light-blonde haired lad who was seated across the table from her. She smiled, sweeping her shoulder-length black hair behind her ear. _

_ Crabbe and Goyle chuckled something about how Draco was making eyes at a first-year, but he shut them up with a glare. _

_ "If you must know," she informed them, "I'm a transfer student! Just because I'm fifteen doesn't mean that I don't have to be sorted!" _

_ Now it was the whole section of the Slytherin table that was looking at her; the girls apathetically and the boys keenly._

_ After the feast, he made sure to get Lauriana alone so he could get to know the girl whose family name his parents loathed. He wondered if she knew who he was. "What brings you to Hogwarts?" he asked her privately._

_ "My father forced me to transfer here seeing as how Hogwarts is known for the finest education in witchcraft," she told the partial truth._

_ "Why not start out here right away?" Draco inquired. _

_ "Are you interrogating me?" she nearly demanded. "Perhaps it was a financial issue!"_

_ "Transferring from Beaxbaton, Lauriana?" he chuckled, "Financial issue _my ass_."_

_ Her brow furrowed. "All right…" she conceded, "I'm not great at magic, but my father was willing to pay them off so I'd receive the entrance letter." She crossed her arms in a huff. "And call me Laura, will you?!"_

_ He smirked as he ran his index finger along her jaw-line, "You're sure full of… How do you say… joie de vivre?"_

_ 'Curse him!' she thought to herself as a smile crept onto her expression. She still kept her feelings in check as she studied the pale lad in front of her. Something sparked her memory and she had a bad feeling before even asking him what his name was. _

_ "Draco Malfoy."_

_ Had she heard right? He was the one she had been sent to kill! What a shame it was to cut short the life of someone so good-looking. _

_During the first week or so of school, Draco came upon Laura who was weeping in an abandoned area of the library. By this time, he had already been named a Prefect even though he should have been in class, he wouldn't be reprimanded for walking the hallways. She was sitting on the floor behind a row of books, hiding from other Slytherin girls who by that time had already gone back to __Slytherin__Tower__ or to class. _

_ "How long has it been going on?" he asked after she explained about the harassment._

_ "Since the day I arrived," she told him, trying to conceal her tears. "They're calling me a squib. I don't know what it means, but I know it's bad…"_

_ "It means you're a pure-blood with no magical ability." _

_ Her tears started flowing again, but she sniffed them away._

_ He sat next to her promising, "I'll put a stop to your tormentors. Don't worry." He knew the other Slytherin girls would do anything he asked of them—even if he weren't a Prefect—as long as they were in his favour. A comforting arm then went around her shoulders and she turned to embrace him. After they parted, his willpower faltered and he kissed her. He wanted to take her then. _

_ Her thoughts were a mass of confusion. She thought she might fancy him, but wasn't sure yet since she barely knew him. At the same time, she recalled her mission. She was conditioned to hate him, brought up to despise him, bred to abhor him, yet she was undeniably attracted to him._

_ As he deepened the kiss and permitted his hands to roam, he remembered who she was. He knew he desired her, but at the same time he was mindful of her family name and how he should think of her as repugnant. He was conditioned to hate her, brought up to despise her, bred to abhor her, yet he was undeniably attracted to her. _

_ Thoughts spun around between the two of them as Draco leaned over her, kissing her roughly._

Conditioned to hate…  
_But wouldn't his father approve of him taking advantage of their enemy when she was at her weakest?_

Brought up to despise…  
_But wouldn't her father approve of her breaking his heart and making him suffer before killing him?_

Bred to abhor…  
_She was frightened when he moved onto her and pushed him off, moving away slightly. She hadn't meant to seem like she was playing hard-to-get._

Undeniably attracted…  
_His father wouldn't find out… He wasn't able to stop himself.  
Her father wanted her to give in to him…but she wasn't ready to._

_ He didn't care that she pulled away from him, but forced her. She whimpered, but he shushed her, covering her mouth with a hand. When it was over, he threw his trousers back on and gestured she should fix up her appearance as she was to return to class. She was in pain as she stood up next to him. He noted this asking, "What class are you supposed to be in?"_

_ "Potions," she sullenly replied in a mouse-like voice unlike her own._

_ He grabbed her by the elbow and guided her through the library, into the hallway, and to the Potions classroom. "Excuse me, Professor," Draco interrupted Snape's lecture boldly. "I found Marwood lost on the changing staircases."_

_ Snape glared at Laura before nodding to Draco. "Take a seat then." _

_ She obeyed quickly and quietly. _

_ Snape hissed, "Thank you, Malfoy. You may return to your class now."_

_ "Yes, Professor," he dipped his head in slight reverence before exiting the room._

_ All throughout Potions and over the weekend the physical pains faded, but her confusion about Draco increased. She felt that after what had happened, he obviously felt something for her and she was attracted to him. In reality, she knew it couldn't be like that because they were supposed to hate each other. Especially when she remembered what her father recounted over and over again of her mother's murder._

*end of flashback*


	26. Healing

"Well…" Draco admitted.

"Well…" Laura echoed.

Their spirits whispered in his head; light and darkness falling around them. She was loosing her grip on his consciousness, but she felt he had healed some in the time she spent their. Moments passed and she broke the silence saying, "I'm sorry about nearly killing you."

He dismissed it as if facing death had wizened him. "I _am_ sorry about manipulating you, but I'm not sorry about seducing you."

They both smiled at their raw apologies.

He read her thoughts and knew it was likely she'd be expelled for this. He mayn't see her before she left or ever again for that matter. "We would have made a great team," Draco told her once more. He felt her spirit waver and knew her hold on his mind was lax.

"Yeah, we would have," Laura's shimmering spirit agreed. "Goodbye, Draco."

"Goodbye Laura," Draco replied, reaching out to touch her, but she had faded away. Somehow, he had a premonition it wouldn't be the last he'd see of her.

Laura broke the healing trance only to find that he was still unconscious, but she knew he'd heal soon enough. Before returning to her own hospital bed, she curled next to Draco finding comfort in the warmth of his body next to hers. As she lay next to him, she contemplated everything that had taken place that year. 

Her father, Harry, Draco's father, Draco… The abuse wrought on her person and the abuse she inflicted on others… Her conspiring and Draco's plotting… Harry's selflessness and belief in her… Her failed classes and no doubt eventual expulsion… Nothing mattered anymore. Before Pomfrey returned to check up on her patients, she kissed Draco on his left temple whispering her final, "Goodbye," before going back to her own cot.

Ron and Hermione walked back to Gryffindor Tower together that night. Harry and Ginny were still in the hospital wing and no doubt they would be later getting back. They entered through the portrait hole and walked straight into Ron's room automatically. Hermione hadn't noticed she had followed him there out of habit until after he close and locked the door behind them. They stood in his room, barely centimetres apart from one another even though his room wasn't cluttered. 

Hermione shook off her nervousness to the best of her ability and sat on the end of his bed saying, "I know Malfoy wasn't behind the whole thing, but I can't help feeling glad he's incapacitated." 

He nodded in agreement, sitting next to her saying, "He deserves it for everything he's done to you. I would have done it myself if I could." 

"Don't say that Ron, you'd be in Harry's predicament if you had," she warned, sliding her hand next to his in hopes he'd take it up in his. 

"Good point." He wanted to kiss her, but took up her hand instead.

There was silence between them for a few moments before Ron asked, "You think you'll be able to get some sleep now?" Did she have to leave? He never wanted to be parted from her, especially tonight after what had happened.

Hermione nodded, causing a few stray hairs to fall into her face. Ron reached to brush them away from her eyes and his hand lingered there, caressing the side of her face. The only good sleep she had for months was the last time she had stayed over. Even though the invader was gone, she wanted to feel that safe again and she couldn't feel like that alone. "Would you mind if I- if I stayed here tonight?" 

"You mean with me?" Ron nearly choked on the words.

"Er—yes," was all she could muster. 

"Of course you can." Ron didn't even try to repress his glee.

"Thanks," Hermione calmly replied.

Ignoring the warning signals going off in his head, he leaned closer to her and allowed his lips to meet hers. She enthusiastically responded to the meeting of their lips, throwing caution to the wind knowing that with him, she was safe.

When he broke away in order to catch his breath, he desperately wanted to whisper in her ear how much he cared about her, but he couldn't muster up the courage to do so.

She intently searched his eyes for intention, but realized he wouldn't do anything because he didn't want to take advantage of her, especially since she was still sleep-deprived. She appreciated that, but was also angry that the only time either of them had courage to _do_ anything was when it was a bad time.

They still sat there; unwavering for a long time before Ron took up her hand once again, pulling her to her feet. He led her around to the side of his bed, straightening the covers as she lay down underneath them. As he walked away from the bed, she whispered, "Where are you going?"

He turned around at this seeing her beckoning eyes, concerned that he would leave. "Nowhere," he replied hoarsely, returning to her side. He reclined next to her above the sheets and kissed her cheek

She smiled and let her head rest next to his shoulder. Her eyes closed and blessed sleep found her.

Ron allowed himself one last look at her before he too fell asleep, the happiest lad in all of Hogwarts.

A/N: I guess there was some confusion about whether Draco forced Laura to, um you know, or not, well, he did. She was confused. She thought he was cute, but she didn't want to… She had her father pressuring her to get under Draco's skin per-se and that was one of the things he suggested. I'll probably explore this more in the sequel… if there's an audience for a sequel.  
Draco used Ginny again?? When was that? Hmm…

Anyways, thanks to everyone for the reviews. I like reviews, they make me happy!

Special thanks to Alli-Baby: your kind words mean so much to me! Death-Eater: cool name!! Druissilla: yay Buffy name! As always to Bumpersticker: because you rock! Luza: thanks for your review!   
  
Ravyn, Lucia Dreams, Malfoys-Girl, Ericasmiles, Tifa Redfield, Dark Mew, Slytherin, Lady Damita, Mione Weasely: keep reading and thanks for your reviews!! 

Everyone else—go, review, it's fun! ^^


	27. Some Thanks are in Order

Two weeks later, Draco Malfoy finally awoke from his temporary unconsciousness. Ginny was at his bedside when he opened his eyes. She had barely left him the whole time he was debilitated. Draco wouldn't be back to classes for at least a month because of the damage Harry inflicted on him. 

                Madame Pomfrey came by with regular medication for his pain. After he had ingested the disgusting brown liquid, she left.

                Draco looked at Ginny and groaned, "What are you doing here?" 

                "A little 'Thanks' would have been nicer to hear," she chuckled. 

                "Why-wha-what happened?" He suddenly realized that he was in the hospital wing. 

                She explained everything to him and the memories came flooding to the forefront of his thoughts. 

                He remembered yelling at Laura and the light she emanated. The next thing he remembered was Laura entering his thoughts…or had that all been a dream? And then awaking to Ginny… He groaned once again as he tried to sit up.

                "How do you feel?" she asked in a concerned voice. 

                "I've been better," he admitted, lying back down in resignation. He added with a sigh, "I feel like I might as well have kissed a Death Eater." 

                She laughed with him. 

                It hurt for him to laugh, but his spirits were lifted. 

                When she made a move to get up, he held her arm so she couldn't move. He whispered so quiet she could barely hear him as the pain medication kicked in and he became drowsy. She leaned close to his lips as he said, "Thank you, Ginny."

                "You're welcome," she replied automatically. Her name… He had finally said her name! And it sounded so beautiful coming from his lips. She grinned and before his eyes drooped any further, she kissed him lightly on the brow.

Ron and Hermione went to all their classes, sincerely missing their best friend. Detention wasn't nearly enough to punish Harry for what he had done to three students. Harry wasn't going to be expelled—seeing as how he _was_ Harry Potter, Ron had remarked—but he wasn't allowed back to classes as long as Malfoy was still recovering. Harry had to wait until Malfoy could return to classes and had to serve detentions during class periods.

                Hermione made it her mission to keep Harry up on everything they were learning so he'd be able to perform well on the final exams. So, everyday at meal times and after supper, she spent her time drilling Harry while Ron looked on, wishing _they_ could be studying together…or more hopefully 'studying' together…

                Ron stared over his textbook at the pair, but mostly he was looking at Hermione. From where he sat across from them in the Gryffindor common room, the fireplace provided an unearthly backlight around Hermione's figure as if she'd been enchanted. Maybe it was a good thing, he thought, that she was instructing Harry instead of him because he knew there'd be know way he'd be able to concentrate with her looking so mesmerizing.

                Ron didn't notice that Harry's eyes had strayed as well, but not to Hermione. Harry looked up from his work at Ron and grinned knowingly. He would have made a clever comment about how ogling Hermione would _really_ help his grades, but decided against it. 

                "…_which the Druids were also known for using_…Harry?" Hermione blinked. "Harry! Were you paying attention?"

                "Yes, I've already got that down," he said, pointing to the notes he was taking. 

                "Really… Are you going to be a teacher after graduation or what?" Ron asked light-heartedly. 

                She frowned the frustrated frown she saved only for Ron. "No. Honestly Ron, you of all people should know I don't want to be a teacher!"

                "I know…I know… I just can't help thinking you'd be a good teacher, especially after helping Harry out like this," he replied.

                "What are friends for?" She smiled just as Ron had smiled at her all those years ago when he had said the same thing to her.

                Harry grinned as well, but for an entirely different reason. He knew all to well what was going on between them. He wondered if they had done anything about it, but decided it wasn't the best time to ask… Maybe after finals...? "Yeah, thanks for that, Hermione," he said, trying to get her back on topic.

                Hermione tore her glance away from Ron and focusing on her notes she was reading aloud to Harry. "So it's very important to understand the difference of properties between the two. Understand?"

                Harry nodded.

                "Good. All right, so here's the homework. Try to finish it within an hour so I can check it."

                "_Teacher_!" Ron coughed.

                "How are you going to check it?" Harry wondered suspiciously, ignoring Ron's comment.

                "I'll check it against mine so you can fix mistakes before I turn it in for you tomorrow." She glared at Ron.

                Harry smirked, "Sound good to me."

                "You're going to check mine too, 'Mione?" Ron laughed.

                "Why would I want to look at your sorry excuse for homework?" she fervently responded.

                "Because you have nothing better to do with your time…?" He raised an eyebrow.

                "I've plenty of things I'd rather be doing than correcting your homework!"

                Harry broke in before the fight overtook her, "IS THIS RIGHT?"

                Hermione turned to Harry, almost embarrassed. "Oh, er- Yes, Harry. You've caught on quickly… I guess I'm not used to people actually _listening_ to me," she shot a glance at Ron, "when I'm trying to help them study…" 

                Ron buried his face in his book, embarrassed, and read a few more pages before his eyes reverted to their previous occupation of examining Hermione's features.

A/N: Three more chapters to go!  
Now, run, run for your life! And review on the way out!   
  
ウわああぁぁ! 後３つチャプターしかない！！  
読んだら… 好きだっても、好きじゃなかっても、批評してくださいね。^－^   
有り難うございます。


	28. Unravelling Lies

The day Draco was to be released from the hospital, Ginny greeted him cheerily with some chocolate frogs she had stolen from Seamus. He had already changed from the Quidditch uniform that he'd worn the day of the accident and was back in school robes. 

                Now he was ready for the thorough explanation of what had happened and she related the story to the best of her recollection.

                "What were you doing there anyway?" Draco wondered in more of a concerned voice than one of suspicion. "Could have gotten yourself killed, sweetheart." 

                "I had to see her-to see what she was really like," Ginny told him, "I knew it wasn't safe. But when I found out about your rivaling families, I knew something wasn't right. After the game, I knew you'd be pissed off about losing." She allowed herself a slight grin at this and he smirked as well. "So I made sure I was in the vicinity when you confronted her about it." She took a breath. "I didn't want you to get hurt. Since her assassination attempt failed, I thought she would kill you." 

                "And I wasn't because you saved me." Draco smiled at her. He thought about Laura again, debating about telling Ginny how Laura used a healing trance on him, but Ginny had been the one who sacrificed herself for his sake.

                "I love you," she whispered huskily.

                "I know," Draco replied, leaning in for a kiss. He opened his eyes amidst the kiss only to see the empty bed Laura had occupied. She had gone yet a slight image of her visage from the healing trance played about his thoughts and he recalled their conversation as if it had been a dream. He felt remorseful and pulled away from their kiss saying, "I don't deserve to be so happy. I deserve whatever punishment they order for me, plotting against Potter like that and wanting to harm Granger..." 

                Ginny stayed silent, knowing there was more he wished to say. 

                "Until the day in the library when your brother punched me, I had forgotten about that spell I put on Granger." He explained to her exactly what the potion was, "The spell was that all her sleeping thoughts would be of me so she'd fancy me." He shook his head thinking about how stupid he had been. "That night I helped you on your essay…I didn't care about getting Granger anymore." He met her eyes. He swallowed before continuing. "I want to tell the professors about all of this now."

                Ginny smiled again, thinking it was so noble of him- admitting everything and being willing to accept whatever punishment the professors would give him. Ginny thought it gallant of him to accept the responsibility of his actions after confessing them publicly. 

                Ron wouldn't like the fact that she and Draco fancied each other and it was out in the open now, but just as Draco would accept his punishment, so too would Ron eventually get used to it… She hoped…

Harry still believed it was all Malfoy's fault even after Draco told his side of the story. Once it was revealed to him, by Ginny and her old _Daily Prophet_ clippings that Roger Marwood, Laura's father had been Lucius Malfoy's rival and how Malfoy had murdered her mother, he was convinced everything was Laura's plot for revenge. Ginny shrugged at Harry's conclusion because she told him she only knew _that _particular situation from Draco's point of view. 

                They both knew Draco had an inflated ego and it was likely he'd assume anyone would fancy him, but the extent of Laura's affection or hatred for the son the man who had murdered her mother was unknown to either of them. However, both he and Ginny knew that the only way to get the truth was to gather all the evidence and everyone's side of the story before putting it into perspective and analyzing it. He was pretty confident, especially after Ginny had proven her love for Malfoy, that when Ginny relayed Malfoy's side of the story that she was telling the truth.

                Now all he had left to do was confront Laura.

                Laura had been avoiding Harry, knowing he'd found out about everything and no doubt hated her. She was caught off-guard when she and Ginny were exiting the hospital wing. Ginny caught his eye and left the two of them alone.

                Now was the time for answers.

                "Yes, it's true…" she told him right off the bat. "I'm sure you know by now how the Malfoys and Marwoods never got along. I'm sure you know that Draco's Death Eating father murdered my mother and I was sent here, to Hogwarts, to get revenge on that toff. It wasn't my choice—"

                "There are always choices, Laura," Harry insisted, still angry at the lies she had told him.

                She knew she'd be expelled for attempting murder and the only thing she could think of was to tell Harry everything. There was no more need to lie. "I told you before about my father. He said this was the only way to get revenge for what the Malfoy's had done to our family! I had to get you to murder Malfoy!"

                Lauren continued, "The Malfoy's are incapable of any true love for someone. He's slept around with whoever fit his fancy…" She swallowed. "But I bet you didn't know that it was my father's idea to get on his good side! He constructed it all perfectly- lose my virginity to that git!"

                "I know you won't forgive me for the things I did, but I love you! I wasn't supposed to fall in love with you, but I did…" She was close to tears as she admitted it. "Go on and hate me for all the trouble I've caused you and the lies I told, but don't hate me for falling for you!"

                Harry was distraught. He could barely comprehend the rest of what she was saying. All that hate- all those evil feelings inside of him were her creation. Was it morally fair for him to hold a grudge against her for this? Though hate had been new to him, so were the feelings of desire and love for her. She had kindled so many new emotions in him that he was quite worn out with analyzing them. What would happen now? Without knowing whether or not he had interrupted her, he spoke, "I need some time."

                "Don't worry; I won't bother you ever again," her wavering voice replied. 

                And with that, he left her there, watching him walk away from her. Tears filled her eyes as she watched, but she wouldn't cry. She wouldn't. Without him returning her feelings, her love gone, she wanted nothing more than to die.


	29. Farewell

It was the beginning of March and winter still hadn't thawed. On the day the professors decided Laura's fate, the sky was as dark and cloudy as Laura's mood. They only confirmed the evident. She was to be expelled without being allowed to take her finals. 

                This didn't improve Laura's frame of mind one iota. 

                Hermione came across the girlfriend of her other best friend during class when she went to the girls' lavatory. When she entered, she heard some girls calling Laura a slaggish squib. Laura told off the girls who happened to be fellow Slytherins. 

                Hermione turned and ran back to Transfiguration; desperate to tell Harry of what Laura had told the girls…her plans to- But she had to wait until the class was over.

                "What's the matter, 'Mione?" Ron saw that something was wrong.

                She didn't know if she should tell McGonagall or not. She decided on the latter. After class was over, she pulled Harry aside and Ron followed them.

                "Oh, Harry," Hermione moaned. "How did you leave her? You must've said something awful!"

                He knew she was talking about Laura. "I didn't say anything…"

                She gripped him by his biceps telling him directly, "She's going to kill herself!"

                "What?!" he gasped. "How? When? Who told you this?"

                "Go to the Forbidden Forest now! Run!" Hermione commanded without answering his questions.

It didn't take Harry two seconds before he was bursting out one of the back doors to Hogwarts and running as fast as he could into the scariest forest known to Britain.

                He found Laura standing on a bridge over a large pool of water. She was staring into its depths wishing to join them. She held a men's shaver in her left hand as if to contemplate which way she'd like to go. He seized the sharp blade from her hand and threw it into the water before grabbing her by the shoulders. "Let me GO!" 

                He stood her squarely in front of him telling her, "No."

                She struggled for bit, pleading with him to let her go, but he was much stronger than her. 

                When she finally gave in, she told him, "Everything's lost," in a voice barely over a whisper.

                "Everything's not lost," he contradicted.

                "My mother is!" She sniffed either from the cold or from the tears that were begging her eyelids to let fall. "My father will disown me because I've been expelled from Hogwarts without evening taking the final exams! I failed to revenge and I-I've—" 

                "I know what it's like to lose a parent, but revenge isn't the answer. It won't bring them back and it won't make you feel any better! It won't help!" he insisted.

                "I don't care about revenge anymore!" She withheld the fact she'd actually helped bring Malfoy back from death. "And- And I've lost you!" Her wide eyes filled with tears. 

                He still held onto her tightly as he said, "You haven't lost me."

                She shivered from the cold March winds even though his arms were still around her. "I'm- I'm leaving today."

                "What? No!" Harry wouldn't believe it.

                "I didn't want to leave…to leave Hogwarts…to leave you-" 

                Harry comforted her. "Isn't there anything we can do? Can we at least get you away from your father?"

                "He'll be here in less than an hour." 

                Harry choked on the words. "Will I ever see you again?" His hand went to the side of her face without hesitation, wiping her tears with his thumb casually.

                "I don't know," she honestly replied, her voice hoarse from her exclamations. "Have to talk to Dumbledore about that." Laura shrugged. "I'll probably be sent to some school that fosters rejects like me."

                "Don't talk like that."

                "It's true."

                Silence followed for a minute or so before Harry said, "We'll find a way…"

                She shook her slumped head, not meeting his eyes. Tears were flowing freely as she said, "You'll move on, Harry. You'll be all right." She couldn't look at him.

                Confusion mixed with loss as he realized he'd probably never see her again after this. He couldn't let her go like that. "I love you." 

                She looked into his eyes as he told her this. She smiled underneath her tears, replying, "I love you too." She hugged him for a long time, pressing against him to feel the comforting warmth of compassion. 

                "You deserve better than me, Harry," she said finally as she separated from him. "You'll find someone someday. You will."

                He didn't know what to say. He was having a hard time comprehending everything.

                "Goodbye," she said simply with a heavy heart. A second of stillness passed and she moved to leave.

                Harry stopped her by kissing her deeply, desperately, and longingly, missing her before she was gone. 

                She pulled away without words and left him there. 

                His heart shattered in his chest and tears welled in his eyes. He hadn't the strength to move from where he was and his knees gave way. He collapsed in a heap on the ground, burying his face in his hands, trying not to cry, but sat there heartbroken.

                It was a long while before he picked himself up of the ground and walked inside the school. He saw Dumbledore speaking with a tall dark man whom he supposed was Laura's father. And he had thought Lucius Malfoy was an intimidating man! Roger Marwood towered over Dumbledore with rigidly cut dark-black hair, furrowed brow, and rather large, strong arms. He thought if there was a physical brawl, Lucius Malfoy would have no choice but to run away from him. Amusing as the thought was, Harry realized this intimidating man was his girlfriend's father. Who knew what kind of horrible things he'd do to her now that she was expelled.

                Harry listened in on their conversation. 

                "…is a wonderful school. We feel that she will do well there, without your interference."

                "You can't just do what you will with her! She's _my _daughter!"

                "She's already gone, Roger."

                "I'll find her!" he swore. 

                The rest of what was said between the two adults was muffled before Harry heard Roger grumble, "It's not a wizarding school?!"

                "It isn't, but it's very good. She'll be able to live there year-round and get a good education."

                "She's no daughter of mine!" Marwood declared, leaving Dumbledore shaking his head.

                Harry rounded the corner and caught Dumbledore before he went up to his office. "Harry!" Dumbledore smiled.

                "What happened to Laura? Where is she?" Harry asked.

                "I'm sorry, Harry, she's already gone."

                "But what about her father?"

                "I don't know about that, Harry, but she'll be safe where she is."

                "Can I owl her?"

                "I'm afraid that'd be too long of a flight for an owl where she's gone, but don't worry, I can assure you that she's safe." 

                "What, she's moved to Romania?" Harry suggested off-handedly.

                "Overseas," Dumbledore enigmatically replied, "but standard mail works just fine. I could send something to her for you if you'd like." He patted Harry on the shoulder.

                "Er-sure, thanks," Harry responded quickly. 

                When Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room, his friends were there. They didn't know what to say or do, so they just said words of sympathy that were lost as Harry numbly went up to his bedroom alone. 

                He thought about writing something to Laura, but his mind drew a blank. The offer was open from Dumbledore to write her, but when he sat down to write, he couldn't think of anything to say. Surely Dumbledore would read it which made it even harder to think of what to say. He crumpled up his blank parchment and threw the quill across the room. She had already said goodbye to him. What more was there to say?


	30. Epilogue

Harry received a letter from Laura, which Dumbledore brought him near the end of the school year once his detentions were finally over and both he and Malfoy had returned to classes 

                _Dear Harry,  
                I wish things hadn't ended the way they did and I was still allowed to attend Hogwarts. I hope that someday we'll be able to see each other again, but most of all I hope that we can keep in touch. _

_                Professor Dumbledore promised me I would be protected from my father here- that he won't find out where I've gone, but I'm not as confident about that as he is.  
                I miss you so much. Write back.  
Love,_

_Laura_

                Harry put the letter down, unable to move for a moment. He realized at that moment, it'd be a long time for him to get over his heartache, which was to be expected. He wasn't planning on writing her back and he knew he wouldn't receive another from her.

Draco and Ginny were walking hand-in-hand through the hallways after class on their way to a study room, but all the other students who noticed that the pair was from two different houses: Gryffindor and Slytherin to be exact were staring and whispering worse than for any other new couple. 

                "Blimey! Is that Ginny?" a young girl whispered.

                "With Malfoy…Why?!" another said in return.

                "Janet, you're her best friend. Can you tell us what she's doing with a ferret like that?"

                Slytherins younger than Draco were only bold enough to snicker. They wouldn't dare say anything in front of him, but they were content to talk about him behind his back. That didn't stop the graduating seventh-years from taunting him and Ginny as well right out in the open.

                "Changing sides, are you?"

                "Becoming chummy with a mudblood-lover are you, Malfoy?"

                "Next, you'll be proposing to that Weasel!"

                Draco spun around at the last comment. Ginny pulled his arm back, just as she'd witnessed Hermione do to her brother every time Draco had teased them. "Sod off!"

                "What are you going to do about it?" Pucey laughed to his fellow seventh-years.

                "Nothing," Ginny begged Draco.

                Draco snarled, gritting his teeth as he looked back at Ginny. Her eyes begged him so lovingly, how could he not obey her? He resigned in an exhale, continuing with her down the hallway. For once he was glad she was able to pull him back like that from the fire.

                "Run away, Malfoy!" Bletchley called after him, "Afraid of your own house, are you?!"

                "Stupid gits, the lot of them," Draco mumbled to her as they disappeared around a corner. Ginny still held him by the arm.

                "If you don't mind them, I won't either." She smiled at him reassuringly. 

                He was surprised at the notion, but surely it was true that she was the stronger of the two of them. He rested his other hand on top of the hand linked with his arm, turning towards her. Raising her hand, he unlinked their arms and kissed her hand. "I won't." He returned her smile and they entered the already full study room, ignoring the stares and comments.

Harry still nursed the feeling of guilt about nearly abandoning his best friends for most of the year. He also felt guilty about nearly killed Ginny. He finally broached the topic with his best friends as the three best friends lounged in the common room on a Friday night before finals week. Harry sat in a chair adjacent from Ron and Hermione on the couch. "I'm really sorry about everything that's happened. I'm sorry about almost killing Ginny and—"

                "We know," Hermione said simply. "It wasn't your fault."

                "I'm sorry," he repeated. "And I feel badly about ditching you lot for-" he couldn't say her name.

                Ron interrupted so Harry wouldn't have to. "It's fine, Harry."

                "Well, I just- I mean, I left you two alone so often, I thought you'd be angry," he added.

                Surprisingly, Ron and Hermione laughed. Didn't Harry get it? They were holding hands in front of him.

                "If you hadn't left us alone, Harry, I don't think we'd have found each other," Ron admitted shyly. Hermione unconsciously blushed.

                "You two—" He shook his head. "Well, finally!" he smirked even though he felt a sting in his heart. At least his best friends were happy.

                "I guess we owe you," Hermione added thoughtfully. "Shall we treat you to a butterbeer?"

                "Make that three and you have a deal," Harry remarked, smiling. "Of course, I wouldn't mind if you threw in some chocolate frogs while you're at it…"

                "Don't push your luck!" Ron retorted light-heartedly.

                All three of them laughed together. 

                This wasn't so bad, Harry supposed. At least, he knew, they'd always have each other to depend on.

A/N: Some people were asking about the title for my fic...  
**Question**: Where the frell did the title come from?   
**Easy Answer**: I'm mad. Completely and utterly mad because I dreamed someone waking up in the hospital wing saying, "might as well have kissed a Death Eater".   
  
**More Complex Answer**: In this story, the phrase "I feel like I might as well have kissed a Death Eater" is used as a sarcastic remark, like the common, "I feel like hell" but the true meaning behind the title has to do with betrayal and manipulation.  
  
We all know Dementors have a deathly kiss, but Death Eaters are more mysterious. You don't know someone is evil or a Death Eater and they could pretend to love you (that's why the kiss part of the title), but they could be betraying you at the same time. Even though a Dementor's kiss will suck out the soul of a person, their presence is easily detected by the loss of good feelings unlike the Death Eaters—the followers of Lord Voldemort—whose presence is hard to detect. You can summon a Patronus to counter a Dementor, but you can't counter the _Avada__ Kedavra_ curse. Therefore, I believe a Death Eater's kiss, their lying to you, their hypocriticalness, hurts you more in the long-run than any Dementor's kiss.  
  
Anywayz,

Thanks to everyone who read and enjoyed this fic, especially those who were courteous enough to review- you guys get cookies! :::scurries around passing out girl scout cookies and crackers::: Everyone else, tppppptthhhh! to you! hehehe…  
  
Well, that's it. I wanted to be able to have a conclusion and everything, but I still have all these ideas…  
I was thinking about- some Hermione and Ron problems, her going to Harry (maybe hook up for awhile? hmm…) Laura's difficulties in the "real" world, Draco making a bad choice and Ginny breaking his heart? hmm…

Well, if there's an audience for a sequel, why the frell not? Then again, I can post whatever the frell I fancy, right? Bwhahahhaaaa!   
  
  


OK, you've convinced me…My sequel is titled: **Descendants of the Death Eaters**…now go read like a good little minion!! ::evil grins::

Thanks!  
Review!


End file.
